one side of Old Washington Hall
hosts the art guild & writers group
the other a funky jazzy cafe

you’re the accepted protocol 
curbside from Phyllis’ lamp shop,
apple tablet under umbrellaed 

writing table, every Friday the trolley
and its melancholy bell rounds up
stragglers for the underground

railroad tour: here’s the Harriet Beecher
Stowe House with its view
of the auction block

that started the civil war
& we’re so proud
to show how a few brave

and lucky souls escaped
the night the river froze—
look there, the tour guide 

glides by pointing you
out as the old crank
waiting for his free ham

 sandwich & cup of joe