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Free Verse
I’m Being Held Captive In A
Woman’s Dress Shop
I am patiently waiting
in the Neiman Marcus Dress Shop
while my wife tries on expensive gowns
from the reduced sales rack.
Speaking in a heavy accent
an Asian sales lady wearing a conservative
black suit with a colorful neck scarf says:
“All the designer gowns on this rack
are fifty to eighty percent off today only.”
I tell her, “Everything is always on sale
for a price—
or else they wouldn’t be open for business.”
We both laugh
and the sales lady smirks
giving us her best dour Nan* grimace.
In the foyer a string combo
begins to play “All That Jazz**”
and we join them singing
the chorus in perfect harmony:
“Skidoo
And all that jazz
Hotcha...Whoopee
And all that jazz.”
The astonished sales clerk
hangs the dresses on the rack
and retreats through a door
marked personnel only.
“Come on babe, why don’t we paint the town?
And all that jazz.”
*Nan. American Gothic by Grant
Wood, 1930, Chicago Art Institute. The dour faced woman in this
painting is Grant Wood’s sister, Nan.
**Chicago, a popular musical.
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