Blech Friday; or, Over the River and to the Mall; or, Stay Away from My Door, Buster

Black Friday is here!

And Christmas is near!
But before we get into the detail,
You must understand
The season at hand
Is the make or break season for retail.

Every store has an ad

Of the stuff to be had –
The “Early Bird Specials”, they call it
With discounts so great
You’re afraid to be late –
And eager to open your wallet.

Every store has a slew
Of bargains for you,
But you’ll notice they’re mostly the same --
Same emails, same ads,
Same offers, same fads,
Same difference, except for the name.

You favorite stores
Will open their doors
A few hours sooner than last year,
In hopes eager shoppers
Will fill up their hoppers,
And make up the slack of the past year

But people seem fine
With standing in line
For Thanksgiving doorbuster deals.
Even Thanksgiving Day,
I’m sorry to say,
No longer means gutbuster meals.

The turkeys, the yams,
The jellies, the jams,
The tales of the Pilgrims of yore,
The gravy, the glaze,
The thanks and the praise
Are replaced by a drive to the store.

I’m nearing the end
Of the time I can spend,
I’ve come to the close of my verse.
It may make you cry,
But events of Black Fri.
Are now the events of Black Thurs.

The Storms Appear, Here, I Fear, Each Year

The first storm of November
Always takes us by surprise;
It's as if we've never dealt before with snow.
We don't seem to remember,
When it comes down from the skies,
The winter coping strategies we know.

The driving skills we're proud
Of on our Minnesota roads,
Desert us and we're totally confounded.
We park where not allowed,
And we're consequently towed, -
Our vehicles expensively impounded.

We cannot find our shawl,
And we've lost our woolen caps.
Our sweaters haven't come back from the laundry.
It happens every fall
And you'd think by now, perhaps,
We'd have found a way around this yearly quandary.

Though we face it with esprit,
As a group we're going numb
From the ill effects of Boreal anesthesia.
Minnesotans, Hail to Thee!
We're as hearty as they come,
But we can't escape November storm amnesia.

Election Reflection

"The Worst Voter Turnout in 72 Years" 
      -- New York Times op ed page headline.


The campaign commercials have ended,
At last they are over and done. 
The smears and the jeers are suspended,
The last nasty rumor has spun.
The voters, it seems, were offended
And didn't care which of them won.

The blarney, baloney, and blather,
Innuendos, distortions, and lies.
It's no wonder the voters would rather
Stay home and not vote for these guys.

Envoi 

Because of political
Commercial burnout
It's hard to be critical
Of the turnout.

Post Halloween Post

Halloween has come and gone,

And it was fine and dandy.

The kids arrived with costumes on --

We handed out the candy.

From out of our plastic pumpkin bowls
To every ghoul in queue -

Snickers, Twizzlers, Tootsie Rolls -

We gave each kid a few.

Although we worry ever year,

Will there be enough?

As always, when the end was near,

There was oodles of the stuff.

Here's my advice if candy still
Is left when the night is done -
To hell with diets, gorge until
You've eaten every one.

There is no reason to be doleful
When you've got candy by the bowlful!