bill of goods – The BeZine

“I suspect there will never be a requiem for a dream, simply because it will destroy us before we have the opportunity to mourn its passing.” Hubert Sibley, Jr., Requiem for a Dream

we of the blue work-a-day Mondays,
stale “Pastor says” Sundays
and Veterans’ Day at the mall
where manufactured dreams are sold
they’ve fitted us with iron lungs
the muscle we use is not our own
our scripts are poorly written
our poems stillborn, our music silenced
by Madison Avenue, by financiers
and politicians, some teachers,
some preachers too
and entertainment news …
like carnival barkers, they hawk their wares
material addictions, stoked jingoism …
……for this …
we barter our minds, betray our souls
……Chumped!
we are swallowed whole.

Pigeon: (informal) a gullible person, especially someone swindled in gambling or the victim of a confidence trick. Oxford English Dictionary

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Lives built on pigeon dreams

structured by Madison Avenue

calculated by Wall Street

beribboned by Hollywood

We take them: these manufactured dreams

one-size-fits-all, straight off the rack . . .

And damn cheap too!

Mad, cannibal pigeon dreams,

turning good minds and whole hearts

into mince

We pray to false economies,

seek deliverance from Cheap Jack*

We buy one, get one free –

And fetch and fetish youth eternal

from face-lifts, Botox™, and boob-jobs –

Exit here:

drugs, alcohol

sex-a-PEAL

en-ter-TAIN-ment.

Get a house, a car, a jewel –

Be the first on your block.

Buy now. Pay later.

Filling the empty with nothing more,

something less . . .

and warehousing our souls, they gather

dust

in public storage . . .

first month free.

Poems unwritten. Songs unsung.

Chumped. Stumped. Petrified.

An all-American Pigeon Pie,

neatly boxed

and wrapped to go.

* Cheap Jack – One who sells cheap and second-rate goods. Cheap jack is a slang term for a person who may also be referred to as a “peddler”, “canvasser”, “monger” or “solicitor”. These terms have been in use in England since the 16th century as a derogatory description of traveling salespeople. Investopedia

Photo credit – Lars Konzack, Public Domain Pictures.net.