Saturday, May 21, 2022

Tom’s Tavern on 7 Mile by John Harold Olson

I’d nev­er been so com­fort­ably drunk 
Tom’s old 1 sto­ry house 
With the in­side open-flow past 
Posts hold­ing up the 
Low ceil­ing 
Juke box with James Tay­lor 
And Miles Davis 
Eter­nal­ly 1973 
Chil­dren from the old neigh­bor­hood 
Down from leafy sub­urbs 
Sit­ting In fa­mil­ial groups 
Beer and hu­mid­i­ty 
Ment­hol ci­ga­rets 
A ham­burg­er bas­ket with those sliced pick­les -Years lat­er 
I’m read­ing the De­troit Free Press 
On the Wood­ward LTD 
 Go­ing past 7 Mile in the sleet 
I read of the death of Tom’s 
Peo­ple tore open the build­ing 
With crow­bars and cleaned it out. 
It feels bad 
The death of some­thing good 
Every time.



Retired Las Vegas teacher now a hospice volunteer.

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