Thursday, April 14, 2011

Product Placement

It's 9:06 p.m. I already bought
a writing book, Wild Mind
by Natalie Goldberg at the Borders
just a couple of blocks away.
It will be closed in six days.

I'm sitting at a small round table
at a Barnes & Noble Cafe,
where they proudly brew and serve
Starbucks coffee, writing poems,
taking the occasional sip of my venti
Chai Tea Latte, with soymilk, no whip.

I'm almost directly beneath a round
Bose speaker set in the ceiling,
which is drizzling a live Willie Nelson album
down on me. It's got a jazz vibe, and
I think I also hear Norah Jones.

I try to write a good poem, but
my mind keeps wandering to my dream
of being a Hollywood screenwriter.
I think I'd be good at product placement.
It works in a big action movie,
but it's killing my poem, choking it
on all those capitalized words.
I'm sorry if you read this far.
I'd refund your money if you'd paid anything.

* * * * *

This poem was written in response to a prompt at Poetic Asides to write a time of day poem.

8 comments:

  1. I just got the urge to go buy something... :)

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  2. If I'd paid anything I would NOT ask for my money back! :) This is great, I love that the speaker in the ceiling is "drizzling a live Willie Nelson album//down on (you)"
    I thoroughly enjoyed this! Oh, and I posted two today also. I hope you'll get a chance to check them out. :)

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  3. Stan, thanks - that made me laugh.

    Gloria, thank you for your kind words. Glad you enjoyed it. I'll definitely be by your blog to read.

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  4. This is absolutely great. I identify so much with the places you were and what you were experiencing. I bet everyone will relate. It's a shame about Borders! I'm sick about it. I'm fear ebooks (as great as they may be) will take away all our bookstores! I was at B&N today with my cappuccino grande, writing my poem of the day, too. No Willie around though so it went well.

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  5. Judy, thank you so much for your kind comments. I have a nook, but I love books too - and my time reading and writing at Barnes & Noble is part of what keeps me sane. It was fun writing about where and when I was. Thanks again for visiting my blog.

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  6. Anonymous9:17 PM

    I feel blessed to live in Madison, where there are so many local coffee shops. No branding, just lots of "support unions" and "impeach Walker" signs! I sympathize with any book store, chain or otherwise, closing...
    I did WWP's "write about writing a poem" prompt:
    http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/prelude-to-a-poem/
    Peace, Amy

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  7. Anonymous9:42 PM

    I loved it, Mr. Walker! Like Gloria, I also would not be asking for a refund! ...maybe a coffee from Starbucks.... ;)

    Made me smile!

    ~Paula

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  8. I live in a suburb of San Francisco, so we don't have a lot of independent cafes, let alone bookstores, which is why I'm often at Barnes & Noble. There is a great little cafe in my town where we did some write-ins in November, but the owner keeps very odd hours. I do want to go back; she made the best soy latte I've ever had. As always, thanks for stopping by.

    Paula, so glad you liked it. Glad I don't have to refund anything.

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