Vacationist League: Music

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• MP3 play whole song, lo-fi (modem)

Old-Time Hardware Store

I want only what I need
and I don't want any more
Bring back the old-time hardware store

Remember when
there were bins and bins
of bolts and screws and nails
and cotter pins.
Every size
right before your eyes
you could pick and choose
and only buy what you'd use.
Nowadays
it's not done this way
the whole thing is just some
obscene marketing scheme.
Racks and racks
of blister packs
all assorted sizes
sold in sets of ten.

I want only what I need...

I found a reason to reminisce
'bout how today is the eighth anniversary
of our first kiss.
A night we spent entwined and engendered
I wouldn't have remembered
if you hadn't told me this.
You told me just to say you were leaving.
I almost stopped breathing.
In the end beginning again.
Now I stand before this pallet rack
and vow I won't fix a lock, leak, or latch until you come back.

I want only what I need...

Bell on the old screen door, creaky wooden floor, the low roar of the fan in back of the store. And in a tiny alcove, next to the wood burning stove, stood a grandfather clock chiming in....