'Seller beware: Don't irk buyer'
The Philadelphia Inquirer
January 02, 2004
You've already ruined it, turned me away,
I'm doing what happens to slurs these days,
Reclaiming my rituals, as we did for queer,
I refuse to visit your mall this year!
There's no way your ads, pop-ups and billboards
Are luring me in with the rest of the hoards.
It was probably cute when it all began,
But then it became just a tool for the plan
To make us buy what we just don't need,
The earth can't sustain, and encourages greed.
I'm a big fan of drawing loved ones near,
But it's got nothing to do with your pimped-out reindeer.
Instead, I'll dip candles all night in the solstice
To welcome the light that's growing around us.
My friends and I are starting anew
to send gifts of love, homemade to you!
(starting with this poem)
Samantha Barrow
Samantha Barrow is an assistant program coordinator at the Kelly Writers House and the poet in residence at the Lea School in West Philly.
This is the fourth of a year-end series of commissioned poems based on recent Inquirer headlines. The original headline, "Seller beware: Don't irk buyer," appeared Dec. 20 on page D1.