Poetry Magazine
Today’s Special
Well I guess that’s all locked up tight
Says Sam who guards the mall at night.
Sam’s a puppet! He can’t use his eyes.
His body is an excellent disguise.
I’m Muffy the Mouse! I’m condemned to rhyme
Until the Christmas special end of time.
That’s Jodi, my human friend.
The world goes on and on and will not end
Hiya there Jodi. Oh hi Sam.
Jodi straightens Jeffrey’s magic tam.
Everything’s safe here let’s go upstairs
Sam says through a moustache Props repairs.
Jodi is so pretty. I hate her.
She carries Jeffrey up the escalator
To the kid’s department every night
Where he turns into space and starlight
When I say the magic rhyme. Jeff’s a mannequin
Until the mall goes dark. Then he’s a man again.
NOTES: Read the Q&A with Michael Lista about this poem
Source: Poetry (December 2012).
Biography
Michael Lista is the author of Bloom (House of Anansi Press, 2010). He is poetry editor of the Walrus and poetry columnist for the National Post. He lives in Toronto.
Poem Categorization
SUBJECT Social Commentaries, Popular Culture
Poetic Terms Couplet, Rhymed Stanza
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