Shopping For Gods

In the good downtown fairyland mall of coolness
They throw this big sale on God.
Soon as he is sold they put him up again.
You can't get rid of him.
There's even a string in his back that once pullled
And released croaks, "You can't kill me! You can't kill!"

Most people are not surprised.
They don't see anything wrong with this.
They have everything else.
So why not buy and own God?
What difference would it make?
Who cares if they pass a law?
Never mind the strange feeling
In touching all this richness, that
Slight sense of being trapped somehow
In  some conspiracy, some bait being laid
In the whispers between suburbia and the rats
And the bad weather, mixed all up with that
Faraway news last night, the snow in the mountains
Tibet or Iraq. People rushing a fence screaming
Into the mouths of guns. The bright red blood
Looks the same as when you cut yourself
For nothing. From boredom.
While here in the center of light
A fountain sweet and energetic
Overflows with laughter, perfume and youth.

But you're here to shop. Nobody's going to
Stop you. There's even a cord in your back that once pulled
And released shouts, "You can't stop me! You can't stop me
from shopping and buying!"

After all, the bargains are great today. I'm telling you,
And best of all, there's a couple of gods been overlooked.
There's the god of Poverty and the god of Wealth
Sitting side by side
You can't beat that.
There's even a string in their backs that if pulled sings
Out like a high  tossed willow in the dark, "Oh, don't you see,
Don't you see, If you buy one, you get the other free."

Jo Neace Krause

If you've any comments on this poem, Jo Neace Krause would be pleased to hear from you.