A Poem by Michael Magee

Odysseus at the Mall

I am lost in the world
of American Eagle Outfitters
and Verizon Wireless
looking for a hall of mirrors,
or a Hallmark card to send
to Penelope and wonder
if she is a plus-size woman now
so I look in the window
of Torrid see a zebra stripe
and think:  maybe a sheepskin.

How moccasins would soothe
my aching feet, perhaps a pedicure
and like a second-hand carnie I stand
next to a booth near Cinnabon.
What about a Zale's diamond?
Instead I decide to buy a thermos
for coffee with a memento mermaid
of my trip across the Mediterranean
warm enough to hold to my cold lips.
Then I order an extra tall with foam.

Michael Magee's poems have appeared in Pennine Ink (Great Britain), Staxtes Greek Literary Journal, Avocet and Poetry/Atlas.com  He draws heavily from classical references in these poems, updating them in the modern vernacular, and using mythology as a way to express his own dreams.  He lives in Tacoma, Washington.