Police cars block the side streets;
The avenue’s car-free
To make the strolling easy
For pedestrians like me.
The booths hold clothes and jewelry
And crafts of every type,
But front and center is the food,
Deserving of the hype.
Most every nationality
Is represented by
Whatever meals the chefs at hand
Can chop or stir or fry.
Aromas fill the neighborhood
As people buy and munch
A snack to tide them over
Or a more substantial lunch.
Distilleries display their wares
Near smoothies packed with fruit,
The locals and the visitors
In purchasing pursuit.
A lovely way to spend some time
On a fall-like afternoon,
Succumbing to the urge to buy,
To which I’m not immune.
It’s easy keeping things the same;
There’s comfort in the knowing
Exactly what you should expect
When coming or when going.
Yet many choose to shake things up
And find a joy in changing
By purchasing some brand-new stuff
Or simply rearranging.
While I admire those who have
The gumption for the shake-up,
To switch things out is not for me;
It isn’t in my make-up.
We've all heard it said that time is money-
exchange for purchasing or hours worked.
What if it were the other way around
and time becomes the valued currency?
Then money equals time, a reversed gift.
This exchange would then offer us a choice
of what is valued at our stage of life.
How can we ever honor it with time?
I'd cash in half of all our lifetime savings
and purchase time- increasing senior years!
Extend our lives so that we surely can
longer watch our five great-grandkids grow.
Their ages range from one to only six.
So, at our current ages, that can't be.
If we could trade for fifteen years at least,
would see them turn sixteen to twenty-one!
Plus, receiving gifts of time rather than things
would grant us extra ways to spoil them
with our presence at future birthdays and
those main events that grow and form their lives!
With the other half of our money saved,
exchange it for the value of more time
to barter goods and services required
to help us live those extra fifteen years.
I asked AI, “how do I feel?”
AI told me I feel great
But that I would feel even better
If I just purchased a little item on line.
I asked AI, “why don’t I have anyone to talk to?”
AI told me that was because I had poor social skills
But that I could address this by purchasing a self-help book on line.
I asked AI, “why do I have a crippling headache?”
AI told me that was because I was looking at a screen for too long
But that I could solve this by purchasing some special glasses on line.
I went outside and felt the sunshine on my face
I heard a bird sing and fly across the sky
My little dog got the zoomies and made me laugh
And I thought to myself yes, I already have everything I need.
Have to go to the store
Make the list in order of need
I know you want stuff
But we are no friend to greed
Prices have went up
Must recalculate desire
See, that's Jesus
Rescuing you from the mire
Nope, don't you do it
The clearance aisle is NOT for you
Yes, but maybe what I need
Is in the "other shoe"
Crap! My calculator reset
Shame awaits me at checkout
Take courage, little one
Jesus never rewards fear and doubt
I wished I weren't alone
I'm so tired of carrying this pack
Years of sorrow and grief
Too acquainted with want and lack
I wonder what it's like
To enter a store as a child
With no thought of...anything
Just purchasing what your heart desires
If I could have anything I wanted
I would restore souls marked by trauma
So that communities could feast
Without incident of trouble or drama
...and be free
Written by Trudy Schrader on 02-02-2026
Grand Central should be welcoming,
For travelers do flock,
To come and go, from near and far
And all around the clock.
A hub of transportation,
Both for subway and for rail,
It’s a place where first impressions
Of the city should prevail.
Yet the food court is dispiriting.
The choices are okay,
But there’s a problem if you want
To take some time and stay.
Ther’s very little seating, so
When purchasing some food –
A meal or snack or drink, unless
You might be in the mood
To stand around and eat it,
You are simply out of luck.
There are some scattered tables
For those early birds with pluck.
Perhaps it’s to discourage
Homeless people who might sit
Without spending any money
And, when challenged, throw a fit.
Still, it isn’t very pleasant
For those visitors who might
Like to stop and get their bearings
And to grab a little bite.
As a local, I’m embarrassed
That this very poor excuse
For a food court in Grand Central
Is the best we can produce.
For purchasing a new house, I rejoice,
Yet always hear a faint, unearthly voice.
"Is it a ghost—or spirits?" I ponder,
And tremble with fear as my thoughts wander.
Doors creak shut, then unlock, then close again;
A wild wind hurls a window from its pane.
A whisper sighs, "This once belonged to me,"
Then thunders forth, "Hand over now the key!"
A sudden chill sweeps my feet off the grounds;
My trembling soul spins in unearthly rounds.
I'm bound within the monster's cold, dark reins—
My spirit flees, a soulless shell remains.
Adjacent profits are gained in purchase of information
Non profit lobby hides, assemblies
And congressional lobby laborers
Caught in data shortage
Corrupt a report purchasing shares of
Corruptible budget items
Obstructing legislation
Creating false pretense for arrest
Arrest of defined confine
The hide
The title
The bonds ageing interest
Non profit
Must eat here at specified time
In thousand oaks California
Only at eves Arch, after days end
In Ventura at Catholic charities
The food reception is all day Charity
And none are required
Available coordinates for investigative
Journalists
Publicly available languages
The wheels fell off my thingamajig
as a thingy
came loose in the whachamacallit
or perhaps it was the doodad
on the wotsit
which was the cause to stall it
and it'll take a few odds 'n' sods
plus a new doodah
and some hoo-ha
to make the gizmo
or doohickey
go again so
not to take the mickey
but prep the whole whoop-de-do
to look like new
I'll probably plop
for purchasing the gubbins
or bits and bobs
in a thingamabob
shop
and possibly more
at a whatnot
store
nested questioned
purchasing the opinion
of learning theology, profession!!
that i may decieve thy goodies
believe my suppper platoon, obligations
if capable of escape hatch plan with ^
find science method of acting, ahh gold please
greatest gratuities and salute
many drunk prostitutions for the husbandry laws
various diplomatic african anglo appointments
satire? still not confident in job mask
next trimester suppresion clinique
The last resort of the department store
Purchasing my bones in the flesh
Native thorns contempting robes
Reciprocities without enough city
Familiar silvers behind glass windows
Tracking of least haunted strain
Fellow of coal
Liberty absconds the brazen doors of eden
Bludgeoning heart muscle of castings lapse
Strung letting of hummingbirds pain
Calling froth of tomorrow
Beastly hauling of coppered stones
Blanks of tomb
Witched at birth
Since you have been gone
A lot of water has passed under the bridge
A mixed bag of events have occurred
Leaving behind earth-shaking calamities
Difficult to quantify
As confusion like whirlwind
Keeps spreading and threatening
The very fabric of National Cohesion
Nobody knows what to believe anymore
As looters of our commonwealth
Keep spewing unbelievable theories
From two sides of their mouths
Shamelessly going back To their vomit of years gone by
To satisfy the cravings of their current masters
While citizens continue to wallow in abject poverty
Confused and traumatized
Where their next meals will come from
As their purchasing power has been eroded
By the demise of the national currency
Clubbed to death by inflation
And market forces
Never experienced in our chequered history
"Prize-winning huge pumpkins",
pitched the little seed bag.
Purchasing them with hopes,
preparing fertile soil,
planting them with much care,
patiently waiting, and...
pleased - a sixty-pounder!
Panda Pete was an avid carnivore
Devoured small birds, snakes, and wanted more
Followed the Amazon River to Ecuador
where he lived with a meat-eating matador
these two had a great time shopping at a grocery store
purchasing steaks, roasts, chicken, fish, meats galore.
I fear people have lost their way,
hatred and lies now rule their day;
for morals faded over time.
Purchasing political will,
Big business is pardoned to kill
and perpetuate fear through crime.
Politicians kneel down to God,
and yet, their devotion's a fraud.
For some, faith is but a pastime,
a mockery of true belief.
Exploiting people's pain and grief,
greed fuels anxiety's climb.
Alternative truths are just lies—
merely bigotry in disguise.
"Love thy neighbor" was God's decree,
not "manipulate them with fear."
Such behavior warrants a tear,
and I believe God would agree.
And yet evangelists meanwhile
preach that immigrants are hostile.
Heaven's gate is locked; love's the key,
and no other will get you through.
Come judgment day, God will judge you;
that’s Jesus's Divine decree.
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