Off the shelf

The panic button was pushed.

A paranoia pandemic 

encircled the globe

like storms on Jupiter,

ominous and ionically charged

propigating and intending

malice and malaise.

Under the thumb of gravity, 

our species 

sees a-head

and worries-

Empty shelves and

idle ATM's

had nothing

to offer 

escape.

The bottom line

supply and demand 

Tottered instead of teetered.

Consumerism consumed

thoughts, dictators dodged

questions and regurgitated 

gossip. Useless garbage in, 

makes for rich compost out.

At least, 

It smells that way. 

Some of the mess we have made

cannot be broken down

in a lifetime.

And what was 

Disposable

was defined as-conveniently

placed within arms reach 

and whose sole purpose

goes down the drain

after use.

We all became less

flushed with the shameful

and frequent

ease of letting go. 

Adaptations aren't always

fine tuning, streamlining or

ameliorative animations.

Out of mind, out of sight, they assumed,

they were the last ones.

There was no TP, 

the people forgot the times

Before

being told-crap-

What to do 

When empty store shelves meant

No more-

control.

I too, fell hard.

Off the shelf, lastly,

I had been teetering at the 

Tip-top too long,

Dust settled

On my broad shoulders

everyone was afraid

to Touch-

Until this one time 

and occasion called for a round, 

ceremonious and rite

whereby church and state agree

the sheeple will never see

a way with out.

There is no more TP

But a surplus of crap.

There is too much TV

and not enough to

entertain

idle hands.

After all,

happily and 

Finally, 

some one, 

like me, be-

comes mysteriously 

Married 

and off the market 

for good-

ness sake,

Mass hysteria

May Be

chronic infections of fear

closer to the heart 

of survival and dependence

as if equal to or greater than

quantity signified security.

Image dated 25 September 1968

Taken in Brazil

Description: Manifestação estudantil contra a Ditadura Militar

Window Shopping

Down the narrow store aisle
shelves bulging with merchandise
resembling a hoarders hallway
but here, things are brightly lit

my fingers move lightly across the tops
of changing objects
like piano keys.

Pausing a moment,
felt like holding a note
I stalled in the lane and was
nudged from behind,
my bag shrugged off my shoulder
snapping me
out of kaleidoscope vision-

I craned my neck
backward to acknowledge
someone-apologize-but-no one was
in the aisle with me.

I continued along, slightly unsettled,
when I was then most certainly pushed
by another consumer of wares
in another aisle
on the other side
of the store
of my body.
I did not bother to look,
nobody was there.
It was easy enough to ignore.

He had been waiting in the car.
He found me,
he wore an misfit smile.

He touched me for the first time in
five years,
intentionally
down my spine
reaching all the way
into the realm of dreams
softly.

Quickly and deeply
under flourescent lights,
he told me how he fell
in love
before
and wanted to tell me
what he saw, then, recently,
but I wouldn't understand
nor could I heft its weight.

Cradling a rectangle mirror in his palm
the images he saw
expanded and contracted
at will-with a pinch and pull,
until it all grew too large
and thin and had to shatter
into shards across his feet.

His grip had been too tight.

Through a screen,
it was a dream
I see, I said
like privacy glass.

Nothing was hidden here
or there,
it was simply harder to find.
If only the advertisements
were to scale,
the distance could be measured
between desire and death
marked down
with a red tag.

Marriage is easier to get into than out of.
It is easier to get stuff than give it away.

There is nothing new
nothing I want to buy,
I said at his head facing
his phone-without looking up,
he offered,
You can order anything you like online.

I stood in line with a metal box of pranks
in hand,
You found something, he finally observed
the waiting.
Who is that for?
Me. I'm the only one I know who falls for
these things-
even when I know how they work.
I'll buy it, he said.


Image credited by New York Public Library, no date, no source info given. In Public Domain.