The Grand Reopening

Sweep up the all cobwebs
This hotel is open again
Guests will come in dinner jackets
And sip cognac while watching the rain

Grease the wheels of the room-service carts
Load them with buckets of ice
Impregnate them with chilled champagne
Only the very best will suffice

Iron all the uniforms
Rehire all the maids
Polish all the bellboys’ shoes
Steam the creases in their plaids

Stock the larders with ropes of garlic
And meats from all over the world
Let jasmine once more scent fragrant grains
While king prawns lie among them curled

The streets will be envious beyond relief
This hotel will be splendid again
At the junction where Nostalgia avenue
Meets Confusion Main and Confounded Lane

Drive away the mendicants
There will be no poverty here
Only opulence beyond one’s imagination
In rooms that are priced very dear

If your eyes are rich with glittering tears
And your experience was very expensive
Do join us for drinks in the Wrecking-Ball-Room
Our wine list is suitably extensive

When you retire to the presidential suite
Please note the complimentary willows
We hope the stay will be to your taste
Like the salt and the mint on your pillow