52
The decline and fall
of the bronze George Small
has come 'bout awful quick.
Smallville 'came a Comp'ny town,
foreman tore the statue down
'cause the oil 'neath was so thick.
And folks've got to thank
the Comp'ny bank
for givin' the okay.
Mortgage on the statue,
it owns all the issue
of the town today.
Even the couple who meet
in Smallville Square to eat
are at its beck and call:
Lana 'n' Clark lunch 'n' walk
'round to their jobs 'n' talk --
"What's to be done 'bout it all?"
CLARK: What's to be done?
What's to be done?
Why -- a celebration!
(Comp'ny's built a pavilion
in back of the bank --
musta' cost half a million --
and the mayor wants to thank
all the planners and workers
at a gath'ring tonight,
and can she meet him there?
It's important.
He gives her the eye.)
But Lana won't let her question lie:
-- No-one's starvin' now, it's true,
but this ain’t the home I knew.
Too much change; it's all too fast,
and who knows if any of it will last?
These oil barons, pumping money
into town. I worry, honey,
'bout when it'll all come crashing down.
-- If it comes, it'll come when it comes.
We won't be able to stop it; so
there's no use frettin' 'bout it now.
Do you want to go tonight, or not?
-- What time?
-- Six.
-- You'll come straight from work?
-- It's practically out the back door.
-- But, the bank closes at four.
-- I've got books to do.
I'll still be there.
-- All right, dear.
I'll even bring your mother.
-- If she wants to go.
-- She will.
And she giggles and taps
his nose and chin with the tip
of her forefinger. So gingerly.
Clark shivers
when she touches his dimple:
goosepimples
for the invulnerable. He will
tell her tonight, will linger
with her in the moonlight
after the cakewalk, paint the brighter
future they can have together
in the city, then fly her there,
to Metropolis, directly;
maybe see a movie.
Tonight, this very night, they
can be gone with his own wind.
After work and the party -- in his mind
he resolves, heartily -- he will tell her.
Tonight.
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