The Wishbook

A beginning. A middle. An end.

 

 

The Wishbook

Mark Pearce (c) 2009

 

 

              In the fall of 1963

                The Sears-Roebuck Catalog

                Was better than sunshine.

 

                The Christmas Wishbook Catalog,

                The original October surprise,

                Representative of all color

                And hope and possibility

                To a six-year-old boy.

 

                Just to browse the pages was to dream.

·       Gold tennis shoes with black stripes.

·       Miniature pool tables.

·       Lincoln Logs

·       Remote controlled cars.

·       A pitch-back machine.

·       Creepy Crawlers manufacturing set

·       A $69.00 “that’s not much” drum kit

       

                All the riches of Gomorrah.

       

               

                Well, not all the riches.

                The innocent ones.

                Well…innocent unless you include the

                Women’s undergarment section,

                But those pages wouldn’t occupy my attention

                For another few years.

 

                The Sears-Roebuck

                Christmas Wishbook.

                346 pages of everything possible.

 

                Everything.

 

                Everything.

 

                Mom had her pages.

                Pages 58 to 123

                And pages 237 to 269

                Clothing and shoes,

                Bed linens and curtains.

 

                Dad had his pages too,

                Though he did most of his dreaming

                Down at the hardware store.

 

                All possibility had been

                Addressed and personally delivered

                To our home

                Via our very own mailbox.

 

                Man, that could get

                My six-year old heart racing.

 

                And it was not only the household’s

                Most widely read material,

                It was the most highly referenced too.

                Letters to Santa would now be pocked with

                Corresponding page numbers.

 

                Take THAT Google.

 

                But that was the Sixties.

                A long time ago.

                Before CBS trashed

                The Beverly Hillbillies

                And Sears decided that its

                Monopoly on Christmas wonder

                Just wasn’t enough.

 

                The light in this little boy’s eyes

                Couldn’t offset the printing and posting

                Of America’s most

                Eagerly anticipated dreaming material.

 

                Like a fresh recruit at boot camp,

                The Wishbook was broken down

                Into something little resembling

                Its former self.

                Segmented publications –

                Targeted, efficient and logical.

 

·       Clothing.

 

·       Tools.

 

·       House wares.

 

·       Toys.

 

                And it was never the same.

 

                The Sears-Roebuck

                Christmas Wishbook Catalog

                Was never again

                Everything that Christmas might be.

 

Author's Note

Boomers can relate.

Reviews

[Kylan]

Mark --

I enjoyed this poem. As much as it is worlds apart from the style I generally write in, I found this piece true-to-life and pleasantly mildewed with a healthy dose of nostalgia. You executed the job of a poet well. You took a memory, a feeling, an idea and you gave the details of it flawlessly to the reader, allowing him/her to be trasported back to whatever time it was set in. I was born years after the baby boomer generation, but somehow, through your poetry, I can relate. I think what I like most about this piece is its authenticity and simple delivery.

I'm not sure what to think of the format, though. The rhythm is strange, due to the interrupted wordflow every so often. A stylistic technique like this is only justified, I think, when it contributes in some way to the poem -- enhancing the meaning, enhancing the flow/rhythm -- and I can't see a good reason for it right now. It gives things a choppy, indescive air.

Anyway, pleasant stuff. I wasn't blown out of the water, but I was pleased.

Thanks,

-Kylan

[Poeticpiers]

A most interestin piece of writin You present your ideas well in poetic prose.
I can rember as a child my aunt who lived in america includes a sears robuch catalogue in a parecel I was fascinated. Catalogues as such barely existed in the uk at that time but have proliferated steadily since promising free credit but charging more for goods.Encouraging people to overspend for items they don't need

[Emily B]

I remember the wishbook. Boxed sets of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Strawberry Shortcake and Barbie. And kitchen sets and baby dolls. And microscope sets. So many choices. So many days spent poring over the contents.It is a real shame sometimes how we progress. . .