Charming

David Baker

The remnant industry of a dying town's itself.
Faux charm, flaked paint, innuendo in a nasal twang.
Now the hardware store's got how-to kits
to make mushrooms out of plywood for the yard,

and the corner grocery's specialty this week
is mango chutney, fine with rabbit, duck, or spread
for breakfast on a whole wheat bagel (fresh
each morning at the small pâtisserie across

the way from the red hotel). Which reminds me.
Legend has it that the five chipped divets
in the hotel wall, local lime and mortar,
are what remains of the town's last bad man.

His fiery death's renowned-but don't look now.
Someone with a camera's got a bead on you.