CLIFF FELL
Stretch Limo Blues
Get this –
the airport shuttle out of McCarran
is a black stretch limo,
six of us in here, six dollars a hit
all of us new to the city
and joking, Man, man,
ain’t this the style
and won’t the folks outside
be wondering
if we aren’t Guns’n’Roses
or someone rolling in to town to play
Caesar’s or the Mandalay Bay.
the airport shuttle out of McCarran
is a black stretch limo,
six of us in here, six dollars a hit
all of us new to the city
and joking, Man, man,
ain’t this the style
and won’t the folks outside
be wondering
if we aren’t Guns’n’Roses
or someone rolling in to town to play
Caesar’s or the Mandalay Bay.
But, hey, this is Vegas – stretch limos
glide down every street, and who gives a shit –
the cocktail cabinet’s empty,
taunting us with its walnut veneer.
glide down every street, and who gives a shit –
the cocktail cabinet’s empty,
taunting us with its walnut veneer.
Opposite me the old-timer with flipover hair
fiddles with his bag, fetches out a pair of shades,
places them over his big hook nose, rheumy eyes –
fiddles with his bag, fetches out a pair of shades,
places them over his big hook nose, rheumy eyes –
now he’s serene and beautiful
as an 80-odd-year-old can be,
dressed in black silk
wearing a gold rock
big as a bomb
on his wedding finger.
as an 80-odd-year-old can be,
dressed in black silk
wearing a gold rock
big as a bomb
on his wedding finger.
He drums on the quilted upholstery
keeping time to Jim Morrison’s beat –
keeping time to Jim Morrison’s beat –
break on through to the other side
And I’m just beginning to figure things out:
I’ve left the Chrysler at Thrifty
I’m staying clear of casinos today
I’m heading downtown to the Greyhound
to learn this nugget of American reality –
I’m staying clear of casinos today
I’m heading downtown to the Greyhound
to learn this nugget of American reality –
No car
No-
body
No-
body
I watch a cactus passing
through the mirror of his shades
surprised to find myself in there –
my swollen reflection
through the mirror of his shades
surprised to find myself in there –
my swollen reflection
and see how almost overnight
my arm has grown so rich with silver hair.
Feeding the Pigeons of Fremont Street
Falling out of the Golden Gate Casino
with nothing to my name
on Fremont’s pedestrian mall
beneath its great vault of lasers and neon
with nothing to my name
on Fremont’s pedestrian mall
beneath its great vault of lasers and neon
I see them again
the girls from the Russian doll stall
and Dress Your Critter
and the Buddha Ping Scent Centre –
the girls from the Russian doll stall
and Dress Your Critter
and the Buddha Ping Scent Centre –
all three of them feeding cookie crumbs
to the pigeons that come
and coo
to the pigeons that come
and coo
and gather there
as though to manicure
their perfume-scented fingers.
as though to manicure
their perfume-scented fingers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In 2004 Cliff Fell received a Creative New Zealand grant to travel to the USA and Mexico. He is currently working on a second book of poems, Beauty of the Badlands.