monument

on a recent bitterly cold starlight january night, while the rest of mansfield slept, a small, dedicated group of mansfield's highest ranking male citizens and those who had left their ranks, gathered at a small elongated now vacant building on north diamond street just north of east 4th street to celebrate the festive times enjoyed there for years. one frequent customer mentioned leaving an empty pizza box bouquet monthly, for the ladies who sometimes provided the only joy in their loveless lives. 'safety was important to us. we never knew when our secretaries and coworkers would turn on us, spilling our eccentricities and telling the whole town, costing our cushy jobs. after a few years, the secretaries had become mechanical and boring. their triests had just become impersonal duties of their jobs, but these ladies were different.' heads were bowed, flasks were capped and a retired local minister who had been a regular, prayed for the many ladies who had been their gracious hosts, and for their souls, giving thanks for them, and wishing each, as many called out their names, many safe and healthy tricks. some of the guys recalled their favorite ladies; many a tear was shed. then each gentleman kissed the painfully cold metal, some with their tongues, raising their right hand to touch the sign in their one time humble palace of downtown pleasure, fired up remote starters, jangled keys, driving sad and alone into the frigid pure clean air of a stunningly beautiful starlit moonless night.