A story by Lee Evans from 1198
REST STOP IN SCARBOROUGH, MAINE
Lenny the Chocolate Moose posed
Behind us as the salesclerk
Raised our camera to his nose.
The flash lit the corner nook,
Where the mighty moose stood
In front of a mural landscape,
Behind a rail fence of wood,
On a white chocolate lake.
The salesclerk was a sly guy.
“We also sell ice cream du jour.”
So under the shrewd business eye
Of Lenny the Chocolate Entrepreneur,
We swapped a favor for a flavor,
Stood around and slowly licked
Our sculptures as we savored
The shapes our tongues flicked.
MOOSE CROSSING NEXT TEN MILES.
Out along the major routes,
Signs were posted once in a while.
Camera loaded, ready to shoot,
I leaned from the car and aimed—
But we didn’t see a blessed moose,
Except for Lenny, all the days
We roamed New England on the loose.
But when we got the pictures back,
And took the time to reminisce,
I swear that I could see in fact,
Upon those Mona Lisa lips,
A smile, kind of wry-mouthed,
As his chocolate eyeball winked!
I cannot find that photo now.
Was it my fancy, do you think?
