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Tuesday, May 22, 2018

EULOGY



There's a mall just down the road
that's dying 
it's a slow demise
as one by one the shops
are closing up shop
(so where ya gonna shop?)
and a walk down those corridors now
encounters just a few curious soles
making contact with the tiles
and yours truly of course
(cuz I feel so at home in lonely places)

You can say what you want about the malls

but for a long time they served as our surrogate
downtown in the days of urban decay when
nobody wanted the real experience 
too scary
and so we strolled along in air-conditioned
comfort and poked our heads into the shops
and always seemed to run into someone 
we knew (whether we wanted to or not)
and the seniors in their Nikes and jogging outfits
puffing along twice as fast as anyone else
and the smells...oh the smells...
of sinful chocolate delights and sticky buns
and the way they went all out with the
decorations at Christmas time and the 
jolly fat man holding court 
(where the hell you gonna find Santa now?)

It's a lot we're losing and we don't even care

So I just think a eulogy is in order
for the death of brick and mortar
as we gaze glassy-eyed into that screen 
and click add to cart 
and wait for the guy in the brown truck 
to ring the bell
or more likely than not
just dump your package by the gate
cuz he's got lots of rounds to make
and you don't need to greet him
anyways 
cuz after all
it's not like 
he's anybody
you'd be happy
to run into 
at the mall 


17 comments:

  1. I feel the same way. We have a mall near where we used to live, and it has been slowly dying. At least that is the way it feels.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it's all over the country as far as I know, Carrie. What may happen in most metropolitan areas is that there will be one very popular mall that will survive, and
      the rest will go under.

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  2. Wow this poem is a stunner!!! Luv this description
    "our surrogate
    downtown in the days of urban decay"

    Adding to my list of favourite links.

    much love...

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  3. all kinds of thought provoking lines... a good read an even better reread...

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the read and the reread, Robert!

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  4. This is such a beautifully evocative write. Especially love "our surrogate
    downtown in the days of urban decay."

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  5. I remember down when I was a kid, the excitement going shopping. Then the malls started and downtown began to die. Now the malls are dying.

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    Replies
    1. And urban renewal is taking place in many cities, as it is here. Wheel turnin' round and round :)

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  6. Do not cry for malls dying, friend Tim ... I support my lil corner store with my big money on purpose ... Marlow and Violet of SuperValu ... you are the hardest working peeps I know and I value that I know your names and you know mine. Love, cat

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    Replies
    1. That's a good point...but will they let you use the bathroom?

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  7. Never had dat calamity happen 2 me at Marlow and Violet's ... although am sure they would let me use their potty thing ... right next 2 da butcher shop thing ... anyway ... like all guuud girls r trained by their guuud mamas ... I always go pipi b4 goin 2 any sto thing ... smiles ... Love, cat.

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    Replies
    1. We will all make adjustments to survive. Perhaps investing in Porta-Potties would be a good "move" right about now!

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  8. __ Kathy and I remain lovers of history, such as the old "General Stores," but I guess we must now be forced into the "recyclable"
    past. In this tanka, recycle that delivered in the rain on the porch, not us. Smiles! _m


    downtown history
    we stepped from store to store
    sun or storm
    now to the front porch rain
    soaked recycles

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  9. Love that, Doug. I think the malls will reinvent themselves, as brick and mortar retail gives way to Amazon,etc. They will prolly be food and service oriented, which is okay, but trying on a shirt will become a thing of the past, and we'll just have to pays our money and takes our chances ordering it online.

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