joe the jolly bartender

joe the jolly bartender always had a smile he was a solid sender and everybody liked his style no poor sap was so down and out and so desperately blue that joe wouldn't give him a happy shout from across the avenue when joe was working nights at tony's bar and grill it was always a pleasant sight to see him pouring those drinks with a will those innocent and good of heart and not inclined to scowl and hiss accepted joe as he played his part never suspecting something amiss * but those of more skeptical mien saw something beneath the sheen of joe's ever present bonhomie and impervious sanguinity beyond where the neon sign shone and the memories of those it shone upon did anyone really know where he went when he wasn't being joe? a suspicious fellow named tate decided to investigate tate had dreamed of being a detective but reality had been more selective and dealt him an everyday fate a job unpacking and packing crates at a well known hardware store whose sway extended from shore to shore his motive he never professed it might have been sheer orneriness but he got it into his dome that he would follow joe home the opportunity came so without second thought or shame on a desolate windswept night he kept the outward bound joe in sight it proved easy to keep on joe's track he never seemed to look back but proceeded at a steady pace with no particular style or grace the streets fell away like leaves and tate began to believe that perhaps he was wasting his time and his suspicions were not worth a dime joe suddenly was not there tate had no time to stop and stare but hastened to the spot where his last glimpse of joe he had caught a window covered with soap held a sign saying "never lose hope" this cryptic exhortation produced a curious desolation in the consciousness of poor tate to its message he could not relate but of something it seemed to remind him and then he heard a voice behind him - no one could remember when or if they ever saw tate again he became one of those, i fear whose fate it is to disappear the city with its winking face swallows souls without a trace they just go and don't come back - who can keep track? * joe the jolly bartender always has a smile he is a solid sender and everybody likes his style no poor sap is so down and out or so desperately blue that joe won't give him a happy shout from across the avenue