This week’s prompt over at Mum turned Mom is “I read the news today”. My first thought when I saw it last Sunday – two days after ‘Black Friday’ and the day before ‘Cyber Monday’ – was of all the stories I’d read about frenzied shoppers, and of violence and mayhem breaking out as people desperately fought each other for bargains that they possibly didn’t even really want and certainly didn’t need.
I’m all for grabbing a bargain and I want to buy nice gifts for friends and family this christmas as much as the next person, but it was clear that last weekend consumerism had got out of control.
So I wrote a poem about it. Not a sensible, highly political poem you understand, but a poem nonetheless.
I Want
I want…
Can I have…
Could you quickly get me please
One of those
Two of that,
And then three or four of these?
I want…
All these lovely things
That no one else has got
And of those
That my friends have? –
I’m going to get a lot.
I want…
One in green. No,
In red, no blue, No PINK!
Or perhaps one of each
Would be better
Don’t you think?
I want…
That huge, tall one
And this that’s oh, so small
And a round one,
A flat one,
In fact, I WANT THEM ALL.
And when
I’ve got everything
What shall I do? What then?
It’s simple
I’ll go back out
And buy it all again!
Absolutely brilliant Maddy. Great rhythm and the madness captured perfectly. #ThePrompt
Thanks Carol! xx
Love it!!
Violence and mayhem all over a few quid off?….Oh dearie me.
Great poem. X
I know, it looked like madness to me – I stayed at home! Thanks for commenting. xx
This poem is hilarious and appropriate for both sides of the pond
-Dana
Thanks Dana – yes the real frenzy only really hit over here this year I think, though I think it’s been building for years!
Love it! The beat of the words completely captures that frenzied, jumpy, madness
Brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing with #ThePrompt x
Thanks sara – it was another inspiring prompt! xx
You’ve summed up the madness just perfectly Maddy! It’s a sad sign of modern times that the lure of buying cheap stuff turned folk into animals last week. Pretty grim actually xxx
I know, it really was grim! Thanks Reneé x
Great poem. Reminded me of Dahl’s Veruca Salt
I was shaking my head in disbelief at the strikes coming out of Black Friday – I swear the rampant consumerism made people less their minds! Xx
Strikes? I think I meant stories…
Silly auto correct! Yes, it does sound like the sort of thing Veruca Salt would say although I can’t pretend to have Roald Dahl’s writing skills! Thanks Sophie. xx
A good point and well expressed. The title says it all.
Consumerism has indeed taken over. It’s quite mad the way people react and I just don’t get it. It’s about as far removed from the true meaning of Christmas as you can get so I’m glad you chose this as your subject matter. #theprompt
Thanks John. I know – violence and mayhem all in the name of Christmas couldn’t be ore wrong, could it?!
I love the style and the rhythm of this poem and the way you’ve really captured the frenzy of the mad bargain hunting and the mindless consumerism. So well expressed.
Thanks Louise. xx