Cabbagetown: Sometime in 1955 or '56
 

How can I eat with Elvis in my soup?
dining on the John's Grill spec-i-al

When the greased pompadour
jives through the door, you know it's Johnny
& he's out to black some eyes or do a little cutting

I'm in mid-nibble on a soda cracker
when Leggy Mona bluejean's by my booth
& smiles her teeth in at me

You get 5 for a quarter on the jukebox,
& each of them is Elvis if you're Mona
-- & if you're not, maybe Frank Sinatra,
but never Perry Como when you're combed to rock
& your socks is itching

Johnny itches to bite & kick
with a razor blade in his shoe
& attitude that needs a haircut

Mona slips under Johnny's arm, blows a bubble
like none's been blown before, & says
 Johnny, will you boogie with me?

I'm into my third spoon of soup
when the guests from Heartbreak Hotel
mob through the door demanding
banquetburgers, chips&gravy,
hotbeef & col-l-l-l-l-l-ld peas,
COCOnutcreampie & limejello-o-o-o-o-o-o

Johnny finds a face he don't know in the crowd
& shouts I wanna cut you

I break another soda cracker
& do some salt in my soup
while the blood squirts all around me

Mona spins on a stool, says she wishes
it was a horse or something

The ambulance arrives with a stretcher & a siren
Johnny's eating raisin pie at the counter
with a kid whose stolen coat someone stole
while he was performing tricks
in the cold storage washroom downstairs

A policeman with a jaw that has a law of its own
stops & speaks with Johnny, asks him if he cut the victim
Johnny says
No, I don't even know the dude

Nobody witnessed nothing,
& my face is in soup,
blowing green pea bubbles

Meg, the sequin-haired waitress,
mops the blood from the floor
& asks me how the soup was, says
 John always uses salt pork & a ham bone
 SALT PORK & A HAM BONE?
 Sounds like you said SALT PORK & A HAM BONE,
Meg, I say
 That's what I said,
Meg says
 I said SALT PORK & A HAM BONE
 John always uses SALT PORK & A HAM BONE
 in his pea soup spec-i-al
 That's what I thought you said
 in the first place, Meg,
I say

 What'd you say?
Mona asks Meg
when she stops to lipstick her breath
 I said SALT PORK & A HAM BONE, Mona
 Meg, did you say SALT PORK & A HAM BONE?
 That's right, Mona, SALT PORK & A HAM BONE

Even Johnny laughs, saying
SALT PORK & A HAM BONE

The cast from Heartbreak Hotel
gets in the laugh as well,
& we all shout
SALT PORK & A HAM BONE

Johnny & Mona jive to
SALT PORK & A HAM BONE
until the bones are done on their feet,
& Mona proposes to Johnny  Johnny, will you marry me?

Lifting his collar, he pushes open the door
& slinks out onto the sidewalk, saying
 Yeah, Mona, when the welfare office freezes over

John's Grill was located on the east side of Parliament Street between
Gerrard and Spruce Streets. Not known for its cuisine or decor, John's
Grill was nonetheless part of the colour and character of Cabbagetown
until it was recently replaced. I am not sure when it opened, but I do
recall as a child that it was a clean family restaurant. My guess is
that it opened sometime in the 40s. But at least by the mid-fifties it
began to deteriorate and become a hang-out for local gangs and
small-time hoodlums.

Ted Plantos
Copyright By T. Plantos


Ted Plantos' was a Canadian poet, writer, editor
and promoter of Canadian literature.
He was lovingly known as "The Poet Of Parliament Street"
We had many dissussions about OUR Old Cabbagetown.
Ted passed away in Febuary of 2001.
A deep void has is felt by those that knew him.