60 Percent Off And Gone

60 Percent Off and Gone
By
Leo de Natale

Big red signs blare “Going Out of Business”, “Everything 60 Percent Off” a familiar sight these days but there’s a sadness; It’s Lord & Taylor,

God, what are they doing to my old store?

Men’s Department, shoes and their empty boxes are strewn on the floor

everywhere; no semblance of decorum; scavengers sifting through

clothing; shirts and trousers lying on the floor, walked upon

footprints on some; no one bothering to pick up wrinkled

merchandise.
A handful of workers heading for unemployment lines wander
about, zombie-like.

Slow creaking escalators a metaphor as this elder statesman

of merchandising ushers me to the first floor; Cosmetic and

perfume display cases are barren. No black-clad ladies plying

their wares, the air is absent of the overpowering scents.

Jewelry counters have dwindling inventory.
Here too, ladies’ garments are scattered willy-nilly; the once

elegant designer labels are gone. The clothing is dreck.

I leave the store and turn back. These times have destroyed so

much; death and depression permeates deserted mall corridors .

There is a sadness in the eyes of the masked who trudge by vacant

storefronts. No vitality, no spirit. Good-bye, good-bye to these touchstones

of whom we were.