Kevork Kalayjian: This Holiday Season

-well lit,
well, remove the lid,
open the letters
in response to
the help wanted classifieds;
I am the man,
expert in the field,
over ten years experience,
in life, in real.
This Holiday Season,
Give me a place,
Where I may produce,
Do the things, which will pay,
the rent, the mortgage,
toys to the children
This Holiday Season.


I have cast my ballot
one thousand and one times
with a twenty-nine cents stamp (wow its 42 now)
enclosed with my resume
with a salary history,
a list of references,
as I wish to be considered
for the position of …
for the prostitution of …
as advertised in the New World Order
and I promise this time:
I will not sell loans to those
who will forget to build
I will not provide arms and ammunitions to those
who will forget to spare the civilians
I will not sell my country and my government to those
who will repay me for my treachery and treason
I will stop selling whatever it was that was called decency
whatever is left of . . . me.




I need a candle for this holiday season
and when I cleanse my soul,
and when I start working again,
after this holiday season,
I will only sell drinking water
and I won’t remind you that
you forgot to pay.
I will give you things
which you can use, goods
which will definitely improve
the quality of your life.


Pray for me this holiday season,
better yet, vote for me
this holiday season!




This poem appears in Love Lure: A Collection of Love Poems and Other Writings, published in New York, 2010 - Ed.