Elizabethan Theatre

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THE WORLD STILL SHAKES

Life was still, or at least it seemed so.
And then the world shook.
It shook free our souls.
Some left.  Some shattered.  Some were shaken but not destroyed.
All were changed.
Chaos reigned for a time.
Aid waged war against it.
The sun somehow continues to rise.
But the world still shakes.

© 2010 Elizabeth Ditty

I was going to post an old story, but then this jumped out at me from my idea box. It’s another venture into poetry, which happens from time to time, generally when I least expect it and never when I try to force it.  It’s inspired by a blurb I read somewhere about a place where at least the first verse rings true.  As for the rest, who knows?

LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK

At our little Parisienne hotel, we have a simple sign.
“Leave your values at the front desk,” it declares.

With its quaint lack of pretension
And its implied promise of security
It makes our guests feel at ease.

The astute ones even chuckle,
Thinking our English is less than perfect.
They smile and say nothing, and so do we.

Never occurring to anyone
Is the realization
That we are deadly serious.

The moment your shoes, be they well-worn or très chic,
Cross the threshold into your room,
We take them into possession.

It’s in the fine print
When you sign the receipt.
Don’t blame us.
We warned you.

We are quite skilled at keeping them well-protected,
The morals, the promises, the religions and idols.
They are locked in a vault
And only we have the key.
Many of them stay there forever.

Sometimes we wonder what causes a guest
To leave them behind once their stay is done.
Other times we smile as they scurry out
Holding them tighter than ever before.

It seems to us –
And we refer to our years of experience –
That the best way to appreciate your values
Is to lose them.

And when you want to find them again,
If you want to find them again,
We will have them waiting here,
Safe and sound at the front desk.

© 2009 Elizabeth Ditty

I’m cheating a bit and posting something I wrote last year.  Give me a break, OK? I had to make pie! From scratch — crust and all!  Anyway, excuses aside, I normally stay pretty clear of poetry, but this dropped out of my brain one day, and I kind of liked it. Hope you do, too.

YOU HAVE BEEN REPLACED

Dear Sir or Madam
We must express our sincerest regrets
And please know that you have our deepest apologies
But we simply must inform you
That you have been replaced.

Perhaps this comes as a shock, and perhaps it does not.
We didn’t quite see it coming ourselves
But foresight has never been a strong point for us.

At first we thought of the New Component
As nothing more than a simple accessory.
A supplement, if you will.
But as time moved forward
It became clear that there was a hole of sorts
A mold that needed to be filled
A mold that you had indeed created
And yet, you seemed to be outgrowing it.
Rebelling against it.
Trying to reshape it to your new form.
And we came to realize
It wasn’t you we needed.
We needed the mold.
And the mold needs to be filled.
And the New Component fits.

And so, while we know it might be awkward
To see yourself replaced
In niches, in requests, in photographs, in social situations, in minds, in hearts
Know that we enjoyed you while you were here
And we wish you the best
But the time has come
And you have been replaced.

All the best,
The Management

© 2009 Elizabeth Ditty