Display Island

I cruise through the door
Of the grocery store
Where an uncharted display awaits;
I linger, quiescent,
As glaring fluorescent
Suns play on the gifts of the fates.

The bargains abound
As they tastefully lounge
On a beach spanning several aisles,
While a soda can reef
Threatens shipwreck and grief—
Must my budget be damned by their wiles?

Odysseus’ travels
Came quickly unraveled
When at last he gave in to a tease;
But in time even Circe
Came through with some mercy—
I can’t expect any from these!

Though they claw at my heart,
A new course I will chart
By the signs in the Celotex sky.
If I stick to my list
I will somehow resist
All these sirens and safely sail by.