Excerpt from 'Do Not Be a Gentleman When You Say Goodnight'

Do Not Be a Gentleman When You Say Goodnight…

by Mitch Sisskind

The Song Cave

ISBN: 978-0996778640

“Do Not Be a Gentleman When You Say Goodnight…”

Do not be a gentleman when you say goodnight,
Nor let silence prevail at the closing of the door;
Hit him with your left, then hit him with your right.

Myron Fox played pinochle though had lost his sight,
With hand and heart discerning cards' worth;
Do not be a gentlemen when you say goodnight.

Jess Rabin cheekily liked to say go fly a kite,
A turn of phrase we don't hear any more;
Hit him with your left, then hit him with your right.

Al Arenberg got rich with a non-glare ceiling light,
He died in a room of the old Webster Hotel;
Do not be a gentleman when you say goodnight.

Dark as the nights were, so the windows were bright,
The boys and their girlfriends on the dance floor;
Hit him with your left, then hit him with your right.

Lou Belmont! I see him now with my own second sight,
The black Oldsmobile – and the stern ukase:
'Do not be a gentlemen when you say goodnight,
Hit him with your left, then hit him with your right.'

"Like a Monkey"

Our sages tell us Rachel was a beautiful woman.
Light brown hair brown eyes
Five feet six or seven
Not a clothes horse
But always looked great whether getting ready for work
In white cashmere sweater pleated navy skirt
Or in the bleachers at a Cubs game
In cutoffs and t-shirt
Yet beside Sarah our sages tell us
Rachel was like a monkey
Rachel was like a monkey beside Sarah.
For our sages tell us Sarah was a beautiful woman
And most of all she loved to dance.
People try to move too much she said
Diamonds and rust on the stereo
Really you don’t even need to move your feet,
You don’t even need to move at all
Or just a little really
Yet beside Eve our sages tell us Sarah was like a monkey.
Sarah was like a monkey beside Eve.
For our sages tell us Eve was a beautiful woman
She dyed her hair to a metallic purple sheen
Wore matching purple eye shadow
And silver jewelry
Goth look but she made it work,
Teardrop tattoo by left eye
So small you might not even notice
And to the surprise of many she majored in cosmology
Physics journals on the floor
In her bathroom by the toilet
Yet beside Adam our sages tell us Eve was like a monkey.
Eve was like a monkey beside Adam.
Beside Adam’s foot our sages tell us
Eve was like a monkey
His foot shining brighter than the sun
Brighter than a thousand suns
Flash across the just-created sky
Fission burn
Of which though hidden,
A single spark still burns in you.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Do Not Be a Gentleman When You Say Goodnight by Mitch Sisskind. Copyright © 2017 The Song Cave. Excerpted by permission of The Song Cave. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.