In America,
November stands no chance against December
Christmas trumps Thanksgiving every year
Long before the leftover turkey is gone
Christmas swaggers in,
Like a playground badass with a score to settle
Pilgrims can’t stand in the ring with Santa
Any more than Sonny Liston could stand with Cassius Clay
Before the Thanksgiving dishes are dry
Christmas tree sellers erect their tents
Though who of sound mind buys a Christmas tree
In November?
The radio cries, “Happy Holidays” and every storefront window
Boasts a killer red-tag sale, 50% off, bargains galore!
On the corner by the museum a quartet plays Christmas ditties
For the shoppers and the tourists and the homeless
And on Black Friday people race like lemmings to the Mall
To Wal-Mart and Target
Primed for the Great American battle
The last frontier
Of our dubious supremacy
Losing their heads in the moment,
Otherwise decent people push and shove
Elbow their way through long lines
Run up escalators, hurl themselves into elevators
Glare impatiently at minimum wage clerks
Christmas is never content to merely win
It must dominate
Force November to kneel, then crawl in submission
Broken once more by our perversion
No comments:
Post a Comment