I dreamed the Finnish Hotel founded by Finns in an olden time
It was in New York had been there a long time
Finnish sea-captains had stayed there in their time
It had fallen on one then another bad time
Now restored it wished to be or seem of the olden time
The Finnish Hotel founded by Finns in an olden time
There was a perpendicular lighted sign along its spine:
THE FINNISH HOTEL and on the desk aligned
two lamps like white globes and a blond
wood lounge with curved chairs and a bar beyond
serving a clear icy liquor of which the captains had been fond
reputedly in the olden time
In the Finnish Hotel I slept on a mattress stuffed with straw
after drinking with a Finnish captain who regarded me with awe
saying, Woman who could put away that much I never saw
but I did not lie with him on the mattress, his major flaw
being he was a phantom of the olden time
and I a woman still almost in my prime
dreaming the Finnish Hotel founded by Finns in the olden time.
Other Adrienne Rich songs:
all Adrienne Rich songs all songs from 2009