Today's writing prompt is inspired by ButterflyEffect's poem "It's 3 am, I'm Drinking". With his permission, I copied his first stanza and riffed on it. I thought it might be a country song. My version is not finished. Please add a few stanzas or begin your own "Heaven is ___" and see where it takes you. Edit: Still tinkering...
That went out of business
Thirty-three years ago
But nothing has changed.
First the customers dwindled
What it had, no one wanted
Magazines
Smokes, can of coke
I thought they’d convert it
to some kind of bistro
With maybe an apartment on top
But it sat there, all locked up
No owner - no reno
Just a sign saying
"Life is a joke."
Back taxes were owing
There were roaches in the storeroom
In the corner, a bucket and mop.
I saw in the window
an old bust of Elvis
and a poster of one raging pope.
Heaven is a corner store That went out of business Once, the open sign would flip Against the red painted door But not anymore
She no longer smokes She only sniffs at the air Sitting on the steps Of the old corner store
"There's an ounce of expectation in everything" She said, rising as the mailman walked past One hand outstretched the other rests on the glass
The mailman called out, "sure is a beautiful day" It's the kind of thing you say To make things go away