Ikea Daydream

When I was young I thought about the possibility
of being left within a store at end of day. At
Sears and Roebuck there'd be beds, a towel so
that I could tidy up. The A&P had food galore
but not the finest sleeping, I would think.
Today bright superstores have almost everything
you'd need to keep you comfy and well-fed
until the morning, but they never close,
and so an accidental lock-up's a moot issue.
Now that I am all grown up I've come up with
a new idea. So huge that one could hide away
with lots of beds to choose from, and when
hungry, there'd be chocolate bars and fish,
Swedish cookies and champagne if the cafeteria
shut down without the proper key. You see,
I'd mingle with the thousands of consumers
all day long, asking questions of the helpful
CSRs so they wouldn't get suspicious,
and by night pretend to be a modernist
instead of loving all the older things at home.
Antiques are neat and homey, and I enjoy the
bargains I have bought or better still, acquired
when handed down by loved ones, but
if I had to pick a store in which to live,
Ikea wins the contest all around.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2013