Sucking up to Santa
Dear Santa,
How are you? I’m fine.
I’m Melanie. I’m almost nine.
I’ve been as good as I can be,
so here’s what you should bring to me:
Candy, a phone, and money too.
As much as you can carry. You
Should fill my stocking, not my brother’s,
but, if there’s something left, the others.
That special dolly, Curvy Kate,
that Brandy brags about—I’d hate
To be without her! Also charms.
Enough to decorate my arms
And trade for more. And oh yes, please
bring other things as well as these,
Since I am sure that I forgot
a bunch of stuff. Just bring a lot!
I have been good as I can be.
I really have!
Love,
Melanie
p.s. In case she’s on your list,
Brandy has claimed you don’t exist!
The Sweetness
A young girl calls you “Honey.”
It has a pleasant ring.
It’s not meant to be funny.
It doesn’t mean a thing.
But still, it has its savor.
The sweetness never stops.
And she’s done you a favor.
She didn’t call you “Pops.”
Too Big to Fail
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
Of course, the funds we draw on are not ours.
Bruce Bennett is the author of nine books of poems and more than two dozen poetry chapbooks. He was awarded a Pushcart Prize for a villanelle, “The Thing’s Impossible,” in 2012. In 2015 he received the first Writing The Rockies Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Creative Writing at the Writing The Rockies Conference in Colorado in July. Poems of his have appeared recently or are forthcoming in Tar River Poetry, Stone Canoe, Innisfree Poetry Journal, The Healing Muse, and THINK.