Aphrodite Metropolis (1)

By Kenneth Fearing
"Myrtle loves Harry"—It is sometimes hard to remember a thing like that,
Hard to think about it, and no one knows what to do with it when he has it,
So write it out on a billboard that stands under the yellow light of an "L" platform among popcorn wrappers and crushed cigars,
A poster that says "Mama I Love Crispy Wafers So."
Leave it on a placard where somebody else gave the blonde lady a pencil moustache, and another perplexed citizen deposited:
"Jesus Saves. Jesus Saves."
One can lay this bundle down there with the others,
And never lose it, or forget it, or want it.
"Myrtle loves Harry."
They live somewhere.

Copyright Credit: Kenneth Fearing, "Aphrodite Metropolis (1)" from Collected Poems of Kenneth Fearing. Published by Random House, 1940.  Reprinted by the permission of Russell & Volkening, Inc., as agents for the author. Copyright © 1994 by Jubal Fearing and Phoebe Fearing.
Source: The Collected Poems of Kenneth Fearing (Random House Inc., 1940)