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The Bills
by
Lauren McBride


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after The Bells, by Edgar Allan Poe

Fear the totaling of the bills!
Market bills -
What a time of thoughtless spending their urgency compels!
In the silence of the night
How some shiver with affright
At the melancholy meaning of the tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
Past Due!  And the people

They that roam within the stores
Not alone,
And who shopping, shopping, shopping
Feel a glory buying more.
They are neither man nor woman

They are neither brute nor human,
They are fools:

And their greed, it is what tolls
As they roll, roll, roll
Up the total of the payment on their bills!
And they dance and they yell;
Keeping time, time, time,
As they whine, whine, whine
To the throbbing of the bills

Of the bills, bills, bills

Nearly sobbing at their bills:

Keeping time, time, time,
As debt swells, swells, swells,
And they whine, whine, whine,
To the totaling of their bills

Of the bills, bills, bills

To the totaling of their bills

Of the bills, bills, bills, bills,
Bills, bills, bills

Oh, the moaning and the groaning at their bills.


© by Lauren McBride.
Used with the author's permission.

 

 

 


Lauren McBride finds inspiration in faith, family, nature, science, and membership in the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA). Nominated for various awards, her work has appeared internationally in speculative and mainstream publications for adults and young adults. She is the author of a poetry collection for teens, Aliens, Magic, and Monsters (Hiraeth, 2023). Lauren lives in Texas and enjoys swimming, gardening, baking, reading, writing, and knitting scarves for U.S. troops.

 

 


Post New Comment:
barbsteff:
Very clever take off.
Posted 11/29/2015 02:10 PM
Lori Levy:
Great! It definitely speaks to me--not the buying, but still bills, bills, bills.
Posted 11/29/2015 12:57 PM


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