literature

Shoplifting

Deviation Actions

ninjarat1's avatar
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Published:
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Literature Text

This actually happened to me.

Shoplifting

A man approached me
The charm of the devil
And a trustworthy demeanor
Poisonous in it's wholesomeness
He said he'd seen it all
He said he'd been to hell and back
And I believed him
He asked me to give my soul to a God
For my sake, lest I fall as far as him
He said that I should come to his church
He told me I would learn to love and live and laugh
The way I should have known all along
I nodded my head
And told him I would
I'll never go to that church
I'll never see that man again
He might have thought I'd be a man of God someday
He might have thought I'd turn away from him, and I did
He must have thought that just because I took a kit-kat bar from a Walmart
That I was a dirt-bag
A freak
A nasty fuck
He saw the jean jacket
The dirty shoes
The shifty eyes
And the pants that I ashed on when I didn't have an ashtray
But I'll tell you what he didn't see
Me
Standing on the precipice
As he spoke about God I thought about stars and the abyss
As he spoke about how far he'd fallen
How he went to prison for sixteen long years
I thought about what he'd seen in there
And I felt compassion
I don't think his was as genuine as mine
I could be wrong
And if I was, I'd like to thank him
Wherever he is
He didn't do much for my religion
But he showed me that somebody somewhere
Cares whether I live or die
What happens to me
Somebody who doesn't even know me
A stranger
A monster
A freak
But suddenly intimately bound
Through a few simple words
Slipping through his rotten lips of shallow evangelism
He did more for me than he ever wanted to
He gave me twenty bucks, too
But I was elsewhere
Looking at the stars
And that is why
He is my worst enemy
My best friend
A complete stranger
You
And I
And Us
And Them
All of us
On the precipice of life, death, ruin, and riches
Have to hear something good to keep us going
And that is what shoplifting means to me.
I nicked a Kit Kat bar from a Walmart because I was broke and oh-so hungry. Who knew it would lead to such an experience? Not me.
Comments3
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danekez's avatar
wow. i like it!
you did a very good job on this!
i really need to start ACTUALLY writing something that doesnt relate back to my current fandom.

this poem stayed on track and never once strayed! i love it. this is very good!