On the Road in Nevada: Walter Zabriskie's Ode to the Jim Butler Motel

Ode to the Jim Butler Motel in Tonopah, Nevada

Jim Butler is the place to stay.
It's really pretty nice.
It's clean, convenient, comfortable,
All for a budget price.

The P.O. is across the street,
The Mizpah is next door,
You're in the center of the town...
Now, who could ask for more?

The manager is friendly there,
The staff all aim to please.
The helpful notes and services
Put every guest at ease.

It has a flavor of its own,
Like family and friends,
And when your stay is finally through,
You're sorry that it ends.

So, to Jim Butler I do say:
Three cheers and a hurrah!
It is the best hotel in town
when you're in Tonopah!


— Walter Zabriskie
Rm. 20 3/30 & 31/90


This found poem — To the Jim Butler Motel — was found laminated and affixed to the wall of a roadside motel room in Tonopah, Nevada...but not in Room 20.

It's not the first time we've found poetry in motel rooms. It happened in Missouri too!

To the Jim Butler Motel in Tonopah, Nevada as it appears in Room 22.