Voodoo (poem)

Voodoo

Big round heads and big round eyes

Voodoo sisters insisting the needle through the heart

Is just a prick

“Oh, you’ll surely die”

Closure at last

“Go ahead” says the counter man

“Welcome, welcome everyone”

Don’t worry about the bad reception

Hel-lo

I’m sorry, I thought she was being a bitch with me

“Oh” long pause “I get it…you were joking”

Oh Lord

“Welcome back”

The shoplifter is in the store

The birthday cards she’s taking from the slots

Sell for a dollar ninety-nine—no felony

And anyway, she puts them back

Skims a dozen “Moms” and “Dads”

Congratulations and get well

And puts them back

“Tiny me” croons the tin-diva, “tiny, tiny me”

Even consumerist paper waste

Has given way

When I wish you all the best

Come visit me on my page

And tick my stats up

Someone broadcasts a yuck-face

Not seen in many years

The questioner notices things about other people

Finally a chance to medicate

Finally the embarrassing complaint

That kept the office open

Now tele-treatments from boastful sources

More accessible to the poor

Than to the working classes

Voodoo

See more poetry in Mystery Plays

An Encounter

(2016, Stephanie Foster)