“Go to the mall,” the car engines hum
to the young, weary would-be heroes
the Amazon grooming before battle
the blood-letting liberator of thought
the defender searching for the righteous
the artist without patron or audience.
Through a plane glass door
on a brick horizon the procession
by car, foot, bus, train
leads into a huge refurbished hive
terraced like a box theater
but without the central stage.
On the lowest level
a teriyaki combo
at Kabuki Steak & Seafood
Cajun charred chicken
offered with a smile
and a Chinese accent
a quick slice of greasy pizza
burgers, bagels, chocolate orgasms
strawberry cheesecake, frosty fruit shakes, iced screams
a black man sits with his son over a meal of buffalo wings.
On another level
pairs of shoes crowd shelves
music stores play
through the minds of browsers
books, perfume, jewelry, posters
rocky shores of glassware
beds of chrysanthemums
under a never cloudy sky
stalks of stainless steel
and among it all,
newly ripened lovers holding hands.
The prices remind of money and hope:
a four leaf clover for the price of three.
Can a coffee maker with a timer
and a bread machine ease
one out of other dreams?
Surely not I, I have no need
it’s only the wonder of that place
I never buy.
“God bless you,” a beggar says
extending to passers-by
a shaking hand
while a hustling man
with a tie and a gas can
asks for a few dollars to
get his car home.
Very nice. Reminds me of one of mine (if you’ll be so kind):
Stucco Thicket
Small birds are somehow always in the mall.
The stately, doméd food-court is their hall and tiny sky.
Tad, the tall, bald man is flustered by their dives,
Perturbed, trying to wind down with fries and coke.
“Incoming!” his mind cries. They’ve flown by before he jolts,
Curses, blushes, feels shame for such a chicken flinch.
Just thrushes, sparrows. Some kind of finch? Who knows,
Who cares what make or model of bird lives there
In the eves above the columned gates of Sears.
Birds of the food-court.
Birds of the mall.
Tiny, spiraling tears of grey and brown.
Tad wishes for a mop or broom
To swat them down.