ODE To MaD MEN

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"Once upon a time," says NaPoWriMo today, "poetry was regularly used in advertisements, most notably the Burma-Shave ads. Today the challenge is to write a poem that advertises something. 

What to do, what to do. I realize I am ambivalent about advertising. God knows we are constantly bombarded with it. Billboards, magazine copy, all over the Internet—everywhere you flippin’ look. I guess I dislike it because it works. I've certainly gone looking for and bought stuff because I first heard about it via an ad of some sort. And I've also gone out of my way NOT to use a product or two because the way it's advertised irks me. I would think this through a little harder and give some examples, but I'm all packed and about ready to leave for the last leg of the trip which involves an eight hour drive and I suspect I may not feel like blogging when I get home. Maybe I'll just write an advertisement that extols the virtues of not advertising.

Ode to mAd Men


Take a billboard, paint it white
cover it with brilliant light
reflect the flowers over there,
sunlight on a baby's hair
water shimmer in a puddle
birds on branches in a huddle

Outside a vineyard hang a sign
that doesn't make me think of wine.
When I'm walking past a bakery
smells alone should want to make me
stop and enter, sample, buy.
See? You hardly have to try.

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