Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
The Last Nights of Club Ozymandias in
San Diego
Shelley always makes
one think
(often about how to
pronounce his middle name)
I met a tout along
a darkening street
Who said –
“two trunkless legs of neon dance
There, upon
that wall, on neon feet
An electromechanical
contrivance to prance
In remnants,
but wiggling hips and pouty lips
Tell that the
artisan well caught the lust
Of lonely sailors
as a pretty girl strips -
In time those
young men and the dancer will be dust
These letters
appear, written in cold fire:
I am the
Queen of Club Ozymandias
Look upon me
with your hot desire
Look upon me,
and imagine us…
Tomorrow all
will be leveled
A housing
estate will arise, a planner’s scar
Nothing will
remain of laughter and drinks
Of sailors
flinging their pay upon the bar
For a dancing
girl now silent as the Sphinx”
