Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PIPE DREAMS: 8, by WILLIAM A. PHELON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PIPE DREAMS: 8, by                    
First Line: Only a half a card of hop, wah kee
Last Line: Abe jacobs, dressed in zinc and trading stamps!
Subject(s): Smoking; Tobacco; Pipes; Cigars; Cigarettes


ONLY a half a card of hop, Wah Kee.
I do not need a heavy smoke to-night,
And in the future, so it looks to me,
All my expenses can be wondrous light.

Instead of smoking three full shells, I'll go
To upper Broadway, and I'll find a throng
Of smokeless smokers, whose wide range of pipes
Forever burble in a siren-song.

There's Robert Vandevelde, who says he knows
All Europe's kings and dukes, and who will lead
You right up to the trough, where, for small cash
You can mix in and help the monarchs feed.

There is Jack Murray, and his pipe ne'er rests,
But sends its swirls abaft the daily breeze,
And there's Wells Hawks, who's just about to sail
A child's best biscuit on the Arctic seas.

And Nathan Spingold, just imported here,
Who weaves a story from a whiskbroom's hairs,
And cries "Please, pictures Sunday?" as they heave
His handsome person down the jumpsome stairs.

Oh, look who's here! Gene Walter! And he swings
Prehensile from your dusty chandelier—
And here comes Bob Mantell, a box of goats
Tied to the left lobe of his other ear!

My treat, Wah Kee—bring in the best of hop,
And fancy teakwood pipes, and glowing lamps—
Double the order, Wah, because here comes
Abe Jacobs, dressed in zinc and trading stamps!





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