Fifteen gentlemen in fifteen overcoats and fifteen hats
holding fifteen glasses in fifteen hands,
Staring and staring at fifteen faces reflected in the
mirror behind the polished bar,
Tonight, as last night,
And the night before that, and night after night, after
night, after night
What are they dreaming of,
Why do they come here and when will it happen, that
thing for which they return and return,
To stand and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait
What fifteen resolves are growing clear and hard,
between cryptic remarks, in those fifteen living
silences,
What crystal stairs do they climb or descend into fif
teen unseen heavens or hells,
What fifteen replies do they give the single question,
does anything on earth ever change, or stay?
Before the shot rings out, the mirror shatters, the floor
gapes open and the heavens fall,
And they go at last on their fifteen separate, purpose
ful ways
Fifteen magicians,
Masters of escape from handcuff and rope, straitjacket,
padlock, dungeon and chain,
Now planning escapes still more dazzling,
And fifteen times more terrible than these.
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