motel

the unlit NO

dark and reversible

you can stay for a while

sinatra booth

in places famous

for people

the plaques are

satellite tombs

their motherships

heavy with roses

whose pink mouths dry

on warm marble

and sag 

darkly

in morning

as the red leather

black with time

where we drink to

the floral traffic

may it go

as slow as it can

Evan Laffer is a podcast host and poet. He lives in Los Angeles.