Sinatra's Hat

 

SINATRA's HAT

by Barbara Etlin

Never thought much of
Old Blue Eyes.
To me he was always
just a second-rate Rat Packer.

So I was surprised to find him last night
standing in the living room
of the house where I was a child.

I was wearing my straw fedora
as I always do, for sun protection.
He wore one, too,
and Frank Sinatra said to me,

"Nothing looks stupider
than a hat worn inside."

I said that
Bogie always looked good in his,
indoors or outdoors.

Then Frankie
(he was Frankie to me by then)
told me about the time
he borrowed Bogie's new black Jaguar
and wrecked it
when he drove it
off the cliff into Topanga Canyon.

When I woke
I remembered
that I needed to buy
some rat poison.


Copyright, Barbara Etlin, 2018, all rights reserved