NORTHEAST OHIO SPOTLIGHT

a tired king constructs a shopping mall that is filled with existence

Poetry by ​​DT McCrea

*Title taken from a tweet by Magic Realism Bot on twitter
 
You and I are there. We are on the display rack in the window of the Footlocker. We are sitting next to each other with our knees pulled to our chests and our feet extended outward on the ground in front of us. We are wearing sneakers, and we are trying to make our bodies look like sneakers, like a pair. We are holding hands. You, in this case, are the reader. You, the reader, and I, the poet, are here in the tired king’s shopping mall filled with existence. We are holding hands, and looking at ourselves through the window of the footlocker holding hands and trying to look like sneakers. God is here too. You say I want to see God. I say don’t we all. You say don’t be pedantic. You know that’s why we came here. It’s true. When the tired king built his shopping mall filled with existence that’s how he drew everyone in. Come to my shopping mall filled with existence and see God. The statue of the horse outside of the P.F. Chang’s by the front entrance has a banner on it that reads, simply INSIDE: GOD. You and I saw an infomercial for it. A middle-aged man with shiny teeth and hair and a bad suit said If you want to see God go to the shopping mall and buy my book. Or perhaps that was a televangelist program. Perhaps the infomercial said only I am that am. You say I came here to see God but we’ve only seen ourselves. So, we start walking down the hallway that ends at the entrance of the JC Penney, which is also a Dillard’s, which is also a Macy’s, which is also a Kohl’s. We can already see from where we are that the only thing inside the JC Penney Dillard’s Macy’s Kohl’s is the entire moon. We pass the Spencer’s and inside its door is a blackhole. We pass a PacSun and inside its door is a barren, cracked desert landscape with a single golden suncup blooming at the center. The last store in this hall is a Hot Topic. Everyone is there. Everyone is shopping at Hot Topic and everyone is also working at Hot Topic and everyone is also on display at Hot Topic. Everyone’s bodies are mannequins for t-shirts and everyone’s bodies are also on display to be sold. Everyone is buying each other and themselves. Everyone is selling each other and themselves to each other and themselves. We are there in all of the same roles as everyone else. We both consider buying Nirvana t-shirts and then decide we shouldn’t. Instead you buy gauges and I buy a pronoun pin. We still haven’t seen God. So, we head back towards the food court. As we pass the Kay Jewelers at the corner you nudge me and so I approach the man at the counter. Um excuse me, I say we were wondering if you could tell us where we might find God? God is here. He says, without gesturing toward anything. You, the reader, are becoming frustrated. Make him say something else. You say. Um, I’m sorry, where is here, exactly? I say. God is here. He says.
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DT McCrea

DT McCrea (they/she) is a trans-anarchist poet. They love the NBA, know the lyrics to every Saintseneca song, and have a love-hate relationship with philosophy. Her work can be found in Honey & Lime, Taco Bell Quarterly, Flypaper, and on her website. You can follow them on twitter @dt_mccrea.

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