REVENANTS

When I was young the notion

That they'd all disappear someday

Would’ve made me stare.

Subway stations had machines

Selling gum or chocolates or soda

And plainly would always.

A few old pillars bear traces of them

Empty bolt holes or faint outlines

Of where they once were. Slip a nickel

(Genuine, not mostly made of copper)

Into where the slot once was

And there's a whirr far off

In the reaches of space-time;

A small yellow box of Chiclets

Peppermint Flavored Coated Gum

Falls into your hand. On your life,

Do

     Not

             Eat

                    Them.