Lynn's Grill on Tazewell

She showed up in a photograph
of Lynn's great Grill on Tazewell Street.
That bar's been gone for twenty years.
Glum planners catered its defeat.

She was a sassy blonde back then
who'd drink with anyone who knew
to keep the conversation light
to fight the bad, old B-girls blues.

Her tavern was a place unlike
the other Downtown drinking spots.
The glee was cool; the draft was cold,
and sailors could forget their knots.

She didn't really own the place
but ran it well as if she did.
An older Norfolk man was boss
though she would always call him Kid.

There was enough room in the bar
for a tiny, quarter billiard game
that only tested players' skills
to shoot the ruts but not to aim.

The last time I was in the bar,
the fleet was in; the place was packed.
Nostalgia rarely charts my sight,
but, oh! those other senses track!

(c)W.W. Yoder          2009