late night with the price is right - Danielle McMahon

we've got all the sequined trappings of modernity and 

life is but a glittering stage, our CRT 

color-tv sputters tinny reruns in the darkened living room

sofa settee and chaise lounge from Th—

the devil speaks to us, tiny head staked 

on mean pike—microwave oven, grandfather clock, dinette set

—showcase! so tell me baby why is it 

you forget to breathe in the shower, the hot hot water 

pelting your scoliotic spine, ruddy flesh sparking 

pins and needles, a lifetime

subscription to National Geographic magazine, electric

juicer, alarm clock, baby how about you unlock 

the bedroom door and tell me what is it that makes us whole 

whether mahogany, apothecary, or black pearl velvet, tell me

what is this thing we’ve invited into our home, this 

shuddering blue flame, this spinning wheel, these scores 

of starved and splintered cathode eyes, tell me darling 

what is the cost of this contract,

the average retail price for a pack of Wrigley’s spearmint gum?

Originally published in the author’s chapbook, The Oracle’s Voicemail, 2024

Danielle McMahon is the author of four poetry chapbooks and two micro-chaps. Her latest chapbook “irl” can be ordered from Stanchion Books (https://www.stanchionzine.com/product-page/irl). Author website: d-mcmahon-writes.net. Bluesky @dehm000.bsky.social