Sunday, February 26, 2017

OF PURPOSE AND HAPPINESS

This qualifies as one of my  midnight epiphanies,
inspired by a visit to a local shopping mall.
Submitted to Poets United Poetry Pantry
February, 2017
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She came out of Macy's,
light shining on her faux blonde hair,
tottering on her Manolo’s,  Gucci
bag over her shoulder, clutching
her shopping bags. 

It was the up-scale part of the city,
and she was only one of the privileged
and pampered wives who spent their
time in the glitzy shops looking to
buy purpose with their Visa, and
thinking happiness came in a
shopping bag.  

Heading to the parking lot and
engaging in motorized frenzy,
they would head home to their
gated communities, to their
opulent and empty homes. 

Sipping cappuccino, my thoughts
began to wander.  Once upon a time,
this very site was said to have been
the site of a Native American village,
their moccasins treading what is
now a parking lot.

I imagined the men out hunting, while
the women were busily occupied with
tanning skins, making clothing, grinding
corn and preparing meals, while happy
children ran among the trees and
swam in the stream. 

Their purpose was survival and
happiness was in providing for their
family. How simple their life must
have been.  Smiling to myself,  I
thought I might like to stand in some
pristine forest glade with a handsome
young brave and whisper “Your tipi or mine?”  

21 comments:

  1. Oh the last line is terrific! And absolutely simpler times!

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  2. Love that last line... maybe it happened just like that. Our search for happiness has been so simplistic... at one point you realize that your walk-in-closet is filled, and you have forget the clothes you have.

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  3. that last line though!!
    Skillfully written

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  4. opulent and empty

    These three words say it all. You paint a very insightful portrait of modern man/woman.

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  5. Oh! The beauty of your verse lies in its concrete reality; how happiness is indeed found in commodities, there's never a dearth of them after all.
    And remembering or imagining the old times create a conundrum of sorts - what is better, this relative privileged life or the hard times when it was difficult even to survive?

    Your words raise a significant question. And I like the way you play with the contrasts here. Well-penned.

    -HA

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  6. Thinking happiness came in a shopping bag.....such a contrast with the very real happiness of the native people who once lived there. I love this poem, and it's message.

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  7. This is absolutely splendid work done, especially love that last line!❤️

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  8. Interesting to think of what this was before it was an upscale shopping area. So much was more primitive in one way.....but perhaps so much more 'civilized' in another. I'd take the young brave over the woman with her 'faux blonde hair' any day. Smiles.

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  9. haha - I love that last line, yes I can imagine the village and all the happenings. Times have changed.

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  10. It all comes down to this... Thank you for taking me along.

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  11. Thanks a million for that glorious ending. For in a world where things have change in such terrible ways, we need to remember to dream... and to smile.

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  12. "looking to buy purpose with their Visa" - sigh, so it is with many. It is fascinating to think of those who have walked the places of our lives, before us, in simpler times - or at least, less fettered times. And that close brought a smile. I enjoyed this piece.

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  13. Ha...this is great. You yankee gels are very cheeky LOL

    I must confess that some very happy moments in my life have come out of shopping bags but I don't wear high heels or designer labels so I am excluded from the bimbo brigade:)

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  14. The contrast here is striking--the simpler, the better for me at this age, but there was a time when I looked like the latest Barbie buying purpose--I smiled here at the end--all in joy!

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  15. vying for living in a complex, opulent and empty world...the lowest step on the evolution-ladder....so well captivated...

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  16. I enjoyed your direct style in this Bev - in fact in that context, who needs a tipi!

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  17. Yes, Beverley, the players were different but the same game would have been played just the same!

    Hank

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  18. Even someone who seems to have it all dreams of being in a place far from where she is.

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  19. Haha, that last line is killer ;-)

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