Motel Providence

Took a break from Greek mythology.

Somewhere was a lady betrayed
And the betrayal pierced bone.
As she nestled in his sleeping arms
She found the pictures in his phone.

In a breathless and blinkless wake she lay
On that cold and bloody drench
When the tissues of the wound inflamed
And enraged she craved revenge.

Somewhere else was a man defeated
Again and again and again.
Lost first his job, then wife, then dog�"
Now, he sleeps on the couch of his friend.

“I’m a leech,” he said to his host.
“I take more than I provide.
You’ve kindly saved me from the winter,
But I’m succumbing to the winter inside.”

Now, somewhere nearby was a junky motel
That split the span ‘tween lady and man.
She had come with her laundry and loathing,
And he with a rope and a plan.

The place was run by a gentle old man
With a knowing smile and a warm vocal tune.
“I’d love to serve you both,” he said,
“But we only have one more room.”

The strangers looked at one another
And suppressed their sighs and groans.
The man then gave them a key to the room
And a book called “100 Poems.”

After some chitting and chatting
Of the hells that they’ve gone through,
The strangers remembered the book of poems
That was lying now by his shoe.

The book was old and dusty,
And marked already at page 39.
He there read the poem, called “Ills of the Soul,”
A poem with only four lines:

“Good to find the things you want;
Best to find them within.
It’s better to celebrate than to suffer,
But it’s better to suffer than sin.”

Neither was much into poetry.
They both thought it kind of lame.
That is until they read one that seemed
Like it all but addressed them by name.

The words of the poem trickled down to their cores,
And there they pushed and pulled.
They warmed what needed some warming
And cooled what needed to be cooled.

They closed the book and took to bed,
Deciding it’s best that they slept.
He faced this way and she faced that,
And each had privately wept.

Whether they loved or went separate ways,
In all life’s heavens and hells,
They’d always remember the night they shared
At the Providence Motel.