THE OLD ROLLER TOWEL

How dear to this heart is the old roller towel

Which fond recollection presents to my view.

It hung like a pall on the wall of the washroom,

And gathered the grime of the linotype crew.

The sink and the soap and the lye that stood by it

Remain; but the towel is gone past recall.

O tempora! Also, O mores! Sic transit

The time-honored towel that creaked on the wall.

The grimy old towel, the slimy old towel,

The tacky old towel that hung on the wall.

Now hangs in the washroom a huge roll of paper —

The old printer's towel we'll never see more.

The new ( see directions ) is “used like a blotter,”

And crumpled and scattered in wads on the floor.

And often, when drying my hands in this fashion,

The tears of remembrance will gather and fall,

And I sigh ( though I'm not what you'd call sentimental )

For the classic old towel that propped up the wall.

The sainted old towel, the tainted old towel,

The gooey old towel that hung on the wall.