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A THOUSAND DOLLAR LAMP
SARAH FELL-YELLIN

This poem is based on the true story of a lamp that was sold and repossessed so many times that it brought the unscrupulous furniture store owner in Watts (Los Angeles) a thousand dollars in accumulated profit. 

Translated from the Yiddish by Lila B. Hassid

Have you ever seen- 
Have you ever heard 
the story of a lamp
that is a thousand dollars worth? 
It happened in a furniture store, 
a fancy store it was, with a fancy show window. 
It happened in the glorious Land of the Free 
and the Brave. 
A very simple lamp it was- 
an ordinary lamp, 
not the very best, 
not the most beautiful. 
It stood on display in the show window
with a proper tag and title 
of Greed and Shame. 

Wherever there was a threshold 
this lamp, on its brass base, 
with its pink shade 
stepped over it, 
and left its trace of Light and Shadows. 
It came like a guest- 
it left like a guest- 
This wanderer-lamp always knew 
its way back to the store. 
The lamp saw poverty, 
it shone for her through the nights, 
it brightened her grey dawns. 
It threw light patterns over the patches

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Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 12:49:15 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 13:00:50