The Gaslight Hotel

"Sweating American Literature"

I like slim-thighed women who sweat freely,
nude-natural gals who attend less than more
to shower, soap, perfume and brush
(as Mencken said of William Bryan).

I like vittles in farmhouse kitchens,
cocks a-doodling a steamy "Tennessee."
Swat flies, gnats, wear loose alpaca pants.
(Hemingway wrote of bacon frying-- in KC).

Nebraskan Sandy Bergson sweats so freely,
finds herself hot, drawn too much to men.
While city girls cool under midnight showers,
Sandy simply sweats to sublimate her yen.

All those animals, that powerful sweating,
all the sniffing, chasing, all the begetting--
horses, cows, pigs, dogs and poultry.

(A sweaty southern preacher says,
"Cleanliness saves the flesh from Hell;
the soul from hired-hand adultery")

After the war Scarlett lives in lower cotton,
chews on greens, goober peas and hominy--
Tara gone with the wind in ignominy.
Yet, Scarlett still swirls her skirts
and loves her land-- that bleak landscape
as 0ne painted by El Greco.

Scarlett hears banjo music in echo,
but choirs are ruined and bare.
Songs never to rise again are sung
by widows weeping in hankies,
mourning the good old days,
sweating in corsets, cursing Yankees.

Willie Stark, Louisiana underarm sweater,
as honest as plates of grits-- a country hick.
Elected, he enjoyed the feel of politics in his mitts.
then Willie became a crook, a first-class stinking,
oily southern prick.

Natty, Hawkeye, and Cooper himself
sweat from lack of clothes that vent--
Leather leggings and coats,
double wools and raccoon hats.
No wonder Nattyblazes last a trail
on Glimmerglass then heads west
for cooler winds and the lighter duds
one wears climbing Bighorn Mountain pass.

So, dear lover girl, I’ll tell a truth
clear and unassailable--

sweat is perfect for a quick
tumble in the hay
with a farmer's daughter--

but after lengthy sex back in town
never turn down a bath or shower--

if available.

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DT