ads
i keep reading this ad
over and over again
it is for weight loss
the ad is telling anyone who will listen
that the key to losing weight is simply eating less
cut your portions the ad begs
stop supersizing your fast food
stay away from sugar if you can
there is an obese blonde in the ad
and she can barely make it up the stairss
at the bottom of the ad
is information on obtaining
a weight loss packet
i keep reading this ad
i keep saying weight loss packet to myself
i am sad that we’ve slipped this much
the powers that be
think that we need a packet
to stop ourselves from stuffing our faces
maybe we do
it’s not just weight loss
there are ads for happiness drugs
ads for pain medication
ads telling children to go outside and play
there are beauty product ads for the ugly
miracle drug ads for the sick
ads offering jobs
and ads offering to wipe away your acne
i feel for humanity reading these ads
wonder if we’ve given up decision making and autonomy
ads for how to make friends
ads on finding a partner for life
ads for divorce and remarriage
lawyer ads everywhere
offering to sue your neighbor
for so much as stepping outside his front door
reading all of these ads
you’d think that we couldn’t
get ourselves out of bed in the morning
ads for a better night’s sleep
ads for insomnia and snoring
there are ads all around me
offering cures for this and that
mysterious address at the bottom of each one
beckoning us to send away for the answer
but what are the answers to this madness?
where did it begin?
when did we lose the strength and the drive?
the tenacity and the gut?
ads for weight loss pills
ads for incontinence and gas
when did we lose the plot?
i look at my own beer filled gut
see my double chin and tired face
in the subway window
and see that i am a part of the problem
ads for caffeine and energy drinks
ads for the next day hangover cure
ads to combat alcoholism in the all-american home
there are more ads
then there are trees in the forest
ads for smoking cessation
ads for drug counseling
ads to end all anxiety and human fear
there are ads specifically designed
for whatever it is that you need in this world
plastered on public transportation
glossy in magazines or doused in black newspaper ink
ads rolling down the side scroll on your email
popping up all over the computer screen
flipping past you on the highway on the way home from work
ads for bankruptcy
ads on how to get rich quick
ads for religion and the daily lottery
ones for god and jesus and all the rest
colored streams of nothing embedded
in our worried and burdened minds
ads for books
and movies and television shows
to fill up all of those blank moments
in between
those generous ads
offering a better life
and those merciful ones
promising a gentler and more refined
kind of death
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