The Piano Player Said

by Tom Hatch

The piano player at Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle
Sometimes he played the 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM spot
Told me he would see this little middle aged women
Coming and going through the bar
Past his melodic piano after awhile
They would nod to each other
As he played the treble keys
The theme song of Dr. Zhivago or
Some Cole Porter
Squeegeeing with great talent
Lennon and McCartney A Day in the Life
They said hi one day the next day they
Spoke she stopped in at Bemelmans
To use the restroom a
Clean one as she said a clean spot when needing
To pee while on a shopping spree
Another great spot she said was Frank E. Campbell's
Funeral Home on Madison and 81st
Famous for funerals since 1898 for
The likes of "Fatty" Arbuckle, Candy Darling,
Dominic Dunne, Jackie O, to a recent
Phillip Seymour Hoffman and J. Lennon get the picture
She went up stairs to pee
During another Madison Avenue shopping spree
A funeral was on she tried to make it
Out before the final tear and farewell
Missed it by seconds forced
To wait in the exiting crowd
Handed a guest book she signed
with name and address
As the others did
Six months later she got a check
In the mail for 20 grand thanks
The dead guy wrote
For coming to see my send
Off to the promised land