SAVE the PLANET!

An IKEA Guilt Trip

IKEA couch calls

to tired legs

the checkout line 

moves forward without me

shoulder sloped from

the iconic blue bag

stuffed with:

chocolate

candles

linens

under-bed storage bags for excess winter quilts

lingonberry jam

useful things. wanted things. needed things? 

of course not

so little is

the tug

often a turbulent mental undertow

of wanting MORE

so few resist to any discernible degree 

certainly not me

certainly not today

a tv on the wall speaks in a newsreel loop

urges sustainability:

dwindling resources

unsustainable consumption

rapid climate change

admonishes soothingly:

…all play our part. A world without waste.

such an odd thing, this message

echoing off warehouse walls

shelves of stacks of boxes

shipped by boat then by rail then by truck

so I can have a taste of Sweden

does IKEA want me to join the checkout line or

return all my certainly "not needed” items 

made from dwindling resources

“Save the Planet!”

I am amused

as a self-conscious consumer in an economy-driven world,

I have not yet lost my recognition for the ridiculous