I misremember the refrain in The Waste Land as "Time, gentleman, please!" It's actually "Hurry up please it's time!" Either way the publican's timeless (sorry) call at closing is one of literature's great memento moris. I have my own. Under the 7 train station at 82nd St. and Roosevelt Ave., most nights you can find this elderly woman propped up against the Yogurberry store. She is surrounded by an array of cheap watches and clocks and batteries. She calls out: "Tiempo, tiempo, tiempo...." She does pretty fair trade.
I've wanted to photograph her for a long time but the crush of traffic on the subway stairs makes it a bit tricky. When I finally did, in the photo below, I had the spooky feeling that she was looking right at me. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, indeed.
(For T.S. Eliot fans, and more importantly, Fiona Shaw fans, you can check out Fiona (my favorite actress) doing a live bit from the Clairvoyant section of The Waste Land below. Happy Halloween!)
Fiona Shaw - Clairvoyant section from "The Wasteland" from MrFizzy on Vimeo.
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