POEM FROM A DYING MALL

 

You could almost here it say,

I am still here. The entrance and 

Hallways kept clean by what seemed

Like an army of workers, I wondered

Who paid them? 

The mall dying fast, weighed down by 

A post xMas rush of shops leaving.

Even the chicken burger fast food was gone,

Replaced by a couple of fledgling taco kiosks.

Names no one ever heard of or ever will.

Only Belk and a discounter Roses held sway in 

The caverns of the place. What shops were left 

Stayed close to them, hoping for fall- off clients.

A giant furniture discounter now rented an old 

Anchor store space. The vulture type that

Circles these failing places seeking low rent and

Low price buyers. There staff trained to dress black

And sell, just sell. 

All but a few of the hallway kiosks were gone. The owners

Of the ones remaining sitting close to the cash register hoping

It would ring. A barber sat in a salon with no heads. The massage

Technician long ago giving up on customers slept on the couch in front

Of his place.

It wasn’t long ago when there was hope, a new Best Buy outlet 

And fabric store. Strangely neither had a door to the inside mall. You 

Could only entry from outside. What did they already know. They

Too were soon gone.

On the day I visited, the small animal carts that children ride were 

Roaming the hallways, with happy children and bored parents following.

Why not take an animal cart ride, there was nothing else to do here…