Black Friday, the shopping poem

Black Friday, the shopping poem

John F. McCullagh

The people crowd the entrances 
at Malls all over town. 
To seize the choicest bargain deals, 
 They'd gladly knock you down. 
The retailers all hold their breath 
as shopping gets in gear. 
Will Santa fill his sleigh as hoped? 
 -or lay off more Reindeer? 
 There are plastic toys from China
colored with suspicious paint. 
Whip out your last credit card 
(-when you see the bills, you'll faint.) 
 "The children must have Christmas! " 
No request will be denied.
 Never mind your youngest child
 has just turned thirty five. 
Don't forget a gift for you 
Don't you deserve the best? 
 Shopping is such good therapy 
for the financially depressed

___________

     I found this poem on Google. Over break my father and I went Black Friday shopping at Wal-Mart. We do it every year and I still don't know when we will have enough TVs to stop going. After watching two idiots get arrested I could not believe some of the people. It still gets me every year how crazy people are. Needless to say, this poem caught my eye.

     The playful nature with Santa filling his sleigh, really being those obsessive parents feeling obligated to give their child everything the want, just embodies the essence of some Black Friday shoppers. The allusion to lead paint and China seemed quite interesting. So many people just buy and buy and buy, yet they do not realize what they are really doing. 

Most interesting to me, is the finish of the poem. The thought of still babying your children and risking your life to buy a middle aged son a gift is ridiculous. Additionally, the American attitude and lifestyle of spending money to relieve the guilt of spending money.

Wisdom, Pain, and Getting High

I wanted to choose a poem which represented something that happened during this past break from school.  Originally, I settled upon a poem about Thanksgiving and the end of Autumn, but as I rested on the couch, the day after having my teeth removed, I decided that a wisdom tooth poem would be more interesting, considering that it would talk about a universal experience of pain and being high on drugs.  To find this poem I literally Googled "poems about wisdom teeth removal", and this poem came up. 

I chose this poem because of the use of white space and how Pearson uses this blank area to break apart words into letters in order to give the sensation of confusion.  Through this technique, the author is able to show what a person goes through after having their teeth removed, especially at the end of the first stanza where the drugged subject passes out mid-thought.

Wisdom Teeth Musings - by Lauren Christina Pearson 

It's quiet in my house,
except for m o  v   i   n   g air.
Soft snoring from    distant rooms,
and bedspring creaking under
s i t n  weight.
  h f i g

My mouth is bruised and swollen,
from teeth ripped from gums.
But pain meds drift me far away,
from everything I know.

Though sleep does e-v-a-d-e me,
I am bothered not with that.
For some of the best WoNdErInGs
happen when you're stoned.

Tomorrow will bring more swelling,
more chocolate pudding, and bloody gauze. But at least for awhile, I don't
have to run around like everyone else trying to get by.

At least for a while, I don't have to look like a chicken with it's head cut--!

7 Quotes on Why Poetry Matters

Internet headlines are full of titles with numbers...

Please put together your own 7 quotes - on poetry - and Why Poetry Matters...

(Why seven? It's a lucky number.) 

Check out these great articles from BrainPickings.org:

10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy

John Cleese on the 5 Factors to Make Your Life More Creative

And for what it's worth, check out my Pinterest board on "Why Poetry Matters" 

I found this poem in a a book of local poets in a bookstore, in San Diego.

The poem spoke to me because between Senior Sem, College Apps and everything else, I feel like everything is going by too quickly. In the poem, the line that really spoke to me, "Time spends us. We are carried/ downstream helpless to turn back." I think a lot of people at Reserve probably feel the same way most of the time.

in time or out of it

We say, how can I find the time?
We say, we lost so much time.
We say, I'll spend time with you.

But time does not fit into our pockets
or purses. How can we spend
what we can never own?

Time spends us. We are carried
downstream helpless to turn back.
We live in time and drown in it,

not fish in that river so much
as flotsam, leaves fallen into rapids
that finally pull us under to dissolve.
|                                               - Marge Piercy

Fight On

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_large/public/2012/10/30/flooded-subway.jpg

Fight On

Even as the flood consumes our world
We must continue on, we must set an example
So the rest of the world may look on and say
The words they would attribute to a hero

We are the heart of the nation,
Not the seat of politics, but of economics
For even as the world crumbles around us,
We work, not stopping, even for a moment.

Time and time again, we have been tested,
And each time, we rise to the challenge.
We will not let them break our spirit,
For only then can we be defeated

Do not close up shop, so not stop the train
For until we all lie dead, we will fight on
If our streets are flooded, we will paddle
If our office crumbles, we will rebuild

No disaster will stop us from living our lives
For as long as Lady Liberty stands on guard
Over the sinking shoreline of our mighty city
The world will know we are still here, fighting

Brothers, stand and live your lives
For even when we reach the eye of the storm
We will not lay down our arms and rest
For we are New York, and our work is never done

-Kevin M. Hoover

Home-wrecker

Hurricane Sandy Hits Bay Shore, New York

Home-Wrecker

Sandy-

The reoccurring home-wrecker

That hasn't seemed to learn her lesson.

She was unwanted.

Living in constant fear of rejection,

She forced herself to be noticed.

Sandy gets what Sandy wants;

Her wrath and pain must be felt throughout New York State

 For taking- better yet, snatching-

the limelight away from beautiful disasters such as herself. 

What about her makes her so unappealing?

Her ferocious temper that is shown through every gust of emotion,

as she exhales in relief-

releasing her pent up anger and frustration.

Her motion is beautiful,

Sweeping people off of their feet for miles.

There is attraction in her body,

making her incredible to follow and respect.

Though she may be charming, there is evil in her intent. 

You may be fascinated,

But don't ever question Sandy-

For others like her may return for their revenge.

Kidding. I want this picture...

Sandy Frankenstorm Traveling up the East Coast
Surprise Halloween. More frightening than a ghost..