PAWLING

Many a ghost in Pawling thinks he is the revenant
Of former governor Thomas E. Dewey.
You'll see them crowding the streets after snowstorms
Each with a shovel and a disciplined mustache,
Digging out cars, clearing sidewalks, soliciting votes.
At high school games Pawlonians are used
To massed Thomas E. Deweys taking the field
To perform at half-time. In time, they grow weary
Shunning the light, their mustaches gone ragged.

SOCIAL NOTES

In the purlieus of Pawling the Comtesse
Begins her summer progress. On request,
She will sing or tell stories or dance
Among the tombs to keep the fiends at bay.
Since there is no king in Pawling, the dapper ghost
Of Thomas E. Dewey touches against scrofula;
The Comtesse gives thin gold coins to the victims
With her picture stamped upon them.

YES WHY?

If you don't want to be written, poem,
Why keep buzzing about my head?
I am not without resources, poem;
Go away or settle here long enough
That I can see you. Work with me
Lest I make you into a limerick
Or summon up the mustached ghost
Of former Governor Thomas E. Dewey
See? The very mention of his name
Has left you frozen in mid-air.

ALTER

My friend, of whom I am jealous,
Has an alter ego I've never met.
This is what I know of her:
She eats almost nothing but caviar;
She generally wears one sock
And nothing else. As an alter ego
She is required to fight crime.
I don't know if her one-sockedness
Helps or hinders her in this.
There are rumors she is having
A torrid affair with the ghost
Of former governor Thomas E. Dewey.
Since I started these rumors
I am not sure if I should believe them.