Meier & Frank
by Timothy Reed
swirling magenta grass
and a gardenia sea-breeze
the sun glints on gilded edges
and the fake plants hold
their leaves, dumb and blind
to the fluorescent bars
in this forest of mirrors and mannequins
you and I roam, expressing
knee and palm imperialism
searching the carpets
beachcombers looking for pins
__________________
I'll never forget going to the Meier & Frank department store as a young child, where my sister and I would roam around. We would marvel at the gaudy displays and overbearing perfume counters while searching the floor for straight-pins they used in the men's dress shirts. Those memories are as real and vivid to me as any other and take me back to some of the sweetness of my childhood years.
