For Three Word Wednesday, prompt words idle, pace, nagging. Also submitted to dVerse OpenLinkNight. Happy New Year to all!
For Foy
Lanier’s
The only thing on tap
was Bud or Miller Lite,
sometimes served warm due
to a temperamental cooler;
bathroom stall doors
torn from their hinges
idled against the opposite wall
after some friendly fisticuffs.
The floor slanted hard
to the left, giving
a drunken pace even
to the sober, which we
mostly were, those times
we’d all meet after work to have
a few or a few too many, tapping
out cigarettes and telling lies
about when we were young.
Well before closing time
we’d leave Foy’s to fend for
itself, until we felt the nagging
urge again to drink to health,
good favor, to peace,
prosperity, happy times.
We’ve all gone our separate
ways by now, and today
I noticed Foy’s is just
an abandoned dusty field.
Interesting how people and places change over the years, isn't it? How the places about which we have some good memories eventually decay to dust.....as, I guess, we all will in time.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary--yes, everything changes with time (Heraclitus was on to something!).
DeleteNostalgic memories of happier times, when people really believed "If it is not necessary to change, then it becomes necessary NOT to change!". Some fool will talk about 'progress',but modern day 'progress' is nearly all retrograde steps - reducing the joys of life for the sake of 'political correctness' or state 'grannyism'! On my last visit to England I went to my favourite 500 year old pub with my son. In order to enjoy a cigarette with our pints, we had to cram, with 43 other smokers, into a small back garden area, whilst inside the pub 2 smug looking non-smokers tried to make social sense of an empty room. At least Foy's reverted to nature.
ReplyDeleteThanks Leigh--a big Amen to your comment. I'm not much on what we call progress either. I guess I'm well on my way to becoming a grouchy old fart that cannot give up on old ways!
Deletethe passage of time, it gets us all...and those we once were tight with move on...and the places we hung get tore down to put up a wal mart...or a stop light...change hits us when we least expect....happy new year man...
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian, and Happy New year to you also. Hopefully we can cope with whatever changes come our way!
DeleteA happy marriage of place and time rolled up in a beautiful picture of dust and ash...like incense in a sacred place that nestles in your soul and head..i hope we all have a Foy Lanier's to go back to..
ReplyDeleteMe too, Jae, me too. Thanks!
Deletetime eats us alive
ReplyDeletemight as well enjoy the feast too
great story -- a baby epic! nicely crafted
Thanks Sabio--yup, enjoy the feast while you still have teeth!
DeleteHell, I'll gum my way to the end
DeleteThat's the spirit!!
DeleteLove the symbolism in the end... Happy New Year!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Laurie--when telling my stories, I try to layer in some symbolism just under the surface. This way it can be read straightforward, or at the deeper level. Happy New Year!
Deleteah -- looking back it never seems to be the same, no matter if it really changed so much or if we just have the feel that it changed-- here's to a happy new year..
ReplyDeleteThanks Claudia--things usually change way before we actually notice it. Happy New Year!
DeleteI think I may have visited that place or even worked there under another name! Great write......Thank you for the reflection od days gone by. Put to prose extremely well. Love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth--every town needs a Foy's. I remember one barmaid's name, but it was Lacie, not Beth. She was a cute little thing, except for her tremendous mustache.
DeleteI like the reflections of days past. And sometimes I don't want to visit those places in real life as some of them have fallen on a sad state ~ I would rather remember them in my mind ~
ReplyDeleteCheers ~
Thanks Grace. At least we have the memories.
DeleteWonderful and very poignant poem - shocking at times to realize things that held a real or even somewhat illusory place in one's emotional life are no more. k.
ReplyDeleteThanks Karin. The present is a chance to make new memories, hopefully as good as the old ones!
DeleteHappy New Year Nico! Nothing wrong with a grumpy old fart nostalgia:)
ReplyDeleteThanks R. Well, I'm glad you think so!
DeleteI love your bit of nostalgia. Where I live, nothing is sacred: the worthwhile and the worthless are all torn down in the name of progress.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ann. Not only are these kinds of changes happening outside of us, but we are continually making internal changes, shifts in perspective, etc. Sometimes in the process we lose things that should be saved.
Deleteloved the description and ambiance you create; I was saddened by the closing.
ReplyDeleteoh, and let me not forget, Happy New Year!
Thanks RMP, and Happy New Year to you as well.
Deletenostalgia and sawdust with a bit of spit thrown in . . .
ReplyDeleteyour simple style is V effective and must appeal to the universal
reader . . . i know this place and these people and i have these feelings too . . . nice work nico! great timing too
all the best and cheers (chink)
Thanks Arron--I am always striving to tap into the universal experience, it's nice to hear that I managed something close to that with this poem. Cheers!
Deleteyou captured a nice slice of nostalgia here. calling up memories superbly. You know, I never heard of Foys. I lived in Savannah about a year in total, two times six months each stint. Love that place, still disappointed I never could get into Lady and Sons though, but definitely a place I'd like to revisit again. Strong piece here.
ReplyDeleteThanks Fred, you're always welcome to come on back! Foy's was actually a little outside of Savannah, on Hwy. 80. No more Foy's, but I'm sure we kind find something to make your stay enjoyable.
DeleteYour piece brought back so many memories of finding myself and losing it at the same time. I could smell the beer, the fags and the john! What a great piece of nostalgia.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob. I'm glad I could spark some memories for you.
DeleteSomethings just shouldn't change, like favorite watering holes.
ReplyDeleteThanks DA, I agree.
Deleteterrible how things disappear but they can't take away the memories.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sheilagh--hopefully the remaining memories are good ones!
DeletePerhaps you and your friends where all that were keeping it financial?
ReplyDeleteThat could very well be, Cosmo!
DeleteWishin' I had a Foy's nearby!
ReplyDeleteI know it--however, the last time I went to a bar for a drink after work, everybody (and I mean everybody) in there was on their damn phones. Couldn't get a decent conversation for love or money. What were they all doing, updating their FB profiles or writing poetry for their blogs?
Delete