in a cereal box

Ariel 1967 (California)



i’m looking for the prize in this junk filled box
of pestilential chemicals and oil disguised as nutrition
“lucky” the front of the box says and yet no luck here
it’s as if some orange beast dictated lies, coached conway’s newspeak
i can’t swallow this – it would leave me somewhere on the streets
heaving, my innards spasming, lungs unable to find clean air
and i certainly refuse to buy this for developing  children
misled them to think this is good, is a reasonable choice
this wasn’t on my list, i didn’t put this in my grocery cart
it did not sneak home, hidden under california’s harvest and heartland’s produce
the only thing tempting may be the much touted surprise
“you won’t believe how good. it will be the best. others not good, not good at all”
and even though i dumped it out,
sifted through the manufactured preservatives and crumbs of … undistinguishable
any gold in this plastic bag of garbage turns out to be some cancerous yellow dye
there is no prize to be had; only a con – already rejected.

About this poem

Published in Moments Before Midnight: Oregon Poets Write for Ecological, Social, Political and Economic Justice. Bob Hill Publishing.2018

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Written on April 01, 2017

Submitted by Ariel on September 19, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFBGHIJKLKMN
Closest metre Iambic octameter
Characters 1,030
Words 183
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Ariel

Ariel is a full-time Pacific Northwest poet, often participating at Oregon Open Mics events. She has been published in Gold Man Review, AIM, The Widow’s Handbook, and most recently in Terra Incognita, On The Platform Waiting and Free From Monsters. Ariel often collaborates in many Willamette Valley poetry/art projects and is a member of Oregon Poetry Association, Mid-Valley Poets Association, Willamette Writers and Poet. Her website is poetariel.net. more…

All Ariel poems | Ariel Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem in a cereal box with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "in a cereal box" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/109947/in-a-cereal-box>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    13
    hours
    28
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote a famed poem about the Crimean War?
    A Oscar Wilde
    B Alfred E. Neuman
    C Alfred Lord Tennyson
    D Alfred Douglas