Perma-marker posts for mattresses, pointed
Posts pushed into the ground, waving yard
Signs, swaying in the wind, election season,
“Forty Dollars Down!!” Her boss to vote...
Terrified she’ll lose the job she recently won if
She doesn’t make sales, a legal, lawful
Immigrant, single parent of one, awful -
The landlord would wrest away her rental...
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Less than one mile from here, a homeless man,
A veteran, ran a war in Iran, a man
Who stays in the woods; with dirty, infested
Bedding he rests his head, though this night,
Before One, a candle resting in red glass,
He prays to the Lamb with ‘no place to lay His head.’
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-Gary Edward Geraci
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Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Luke 9:58
The inspiration for my poem “Mattress Sale” came from actual ‘yard signs’ that were posted in my neighborhood several weeks ago of which, I photographed and used in my title graphic. Further, I’m married to an immigrant with one child, a legal lawful immigrant, both of them now, and she works in sales: cosmetics. She absolutely loves her job but gets quite visibly stressed out when customers aren’t coming in...and...sadly...she’s seen many friends and colleagues over the years ‘let go’ (fired) for not making sales. “What would drive a person to put hand written signs up for a big ticket item such as mattresses?” I asked myself. I put two and two together and wrote this sonnet. I hate to see this distressed, wild fearful look in my wife’s eyes and I pray for the conversion of employers: that they may work hard to protect the dignity of their employees and truly work with them in bringing new business into the establishment.
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