Poem: Empty

[meridian_rose]

Title: Empty
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 183
Prompt: For the writerverse prompt 'If Anyone Asks…'
Summary: You don't notice until it's gone
Content Notes: No standard warnings apply.

Empty

The abandoned Blockbuster shops
Haunt high streets with their empty windows
Just another chain store that's closed down
Irrelevant, left behind
And people who used to shop there
- used to-
Say things like "Oh, that's so sad"
And "I'll miss it"
Not because they still shopped there
But because they once did
And they liked the familiarity of it
The idea of it
The notion that it would always be there
And if anyone asks how it happened
They're fools
Because the answer is clear
They (most of them) let it happen
It's no use shedding tears
Over a store you don't shop in closing down
Or a show you don't watch getting cancelled
Or a band you never listen to splitting up
Or a food item you've never eaten being discontinued
Or a journal site you never visit closing down
Or someone you no longer interact with disappearing

Yet we all participate in this hypocrisy
Taking things for granted
Until they're not there
Conspicuous only by their absence
But if that's the case
Then you can't really say you miss it at all

---

Context:
On January 16, 2013, Blockbuster placed its UK subsidiaries in administration [although] Stores outside the UK are not affected by the administration and continue to trade as normal. On February 1, 2013, a large number of Blockbuster stores in the UK were closed. The UK business was purchased out of administration [and] now trades as TS Operations Ltd. source

Notes: Pretty maudlin, I know. But that's what I'm writing at the moment. Angst and depressing fics/poems. And occasional for-a-challenge crack.

Comments

[brontefanatic.livejournal.com]

Both Blockbusters died in my town several years ago. I used to go there all the time, but the choices they offered just got fewer and fewer, and finally services like On Demand, Pay per View and Netflix put the final nail in BB's coffin. They just couldn't compete. To me it brought back the sad closings of stores that sold LP vinyl records, and later compact discs, and later VHS tapes. Entertainment technology is just moving too fast.

in a broader sense, your poem really spoke to me, and also made me feel very guilty. I've been a little over-whelmed recently, and haven't kept up with you and my other online friends the way I should -and the way I want to. That doesn't mean I'm gone, though, or that I don't still care.

I loved the funny animals, and plan to respond over the weekend when I have more time. In fact, you might get quite a tome.

In the meantime - *HUGS*. I hope you feel better soon, and know that we care about you very, very much.

[meridian_rose]

Yes, I understand why Blockbuster went under, for all the reasons you mention (Netflix in particular). There might have been better examples but the empty storefronts evoked the right imagery. The stores did act as a metaphor though for a wider sense of the 'taking for granted' that I addressed later, which you've picked up on. I'm just feeling maudlin right now - but also creative which means that I'm mostly writing angst. Of course sometimes that's the thing which most speaks to people. Isolation, the loss of the familiar, are things we can all relate to.

Thank you for a lovely, thoughtful, comment.

HUGS.