“Share A Coke With Mort”
A Mort Laitner Poem
As I stood in the payment line at my local 7-Eleven, I glanced at a row of bottles of Coke.
They were in a line-up waiting for me to identify, like in that Dragnet TV show.
The bottles in bold letters read, “Share a Coke with Emily” and “Share a Coke with Rebecca.”
Where were Emily and Rebecca?
Were they standing in this line with me?
I did not have the nerve to ask.
I looked for a bottle that said, “Share a Coke with Mort”
knowing I bought anything with my name printed on it.
I closed my eyes and remembered my summer, teenage, love affair with Coke.
How I tightly held her girlish iconic-shaped figure.
She felt cold as glass in my sweaty palms.
She smelled so damn sweet.
My tongue and lips savored her taste.
Sweetie tickled my throat and filled my young heart with happiness.
Without warning she crept into my soul.
She was so cool on those hot summer nights.
She even allowed me to share her with friends.
She was so damn cheap.
I had to have her every night.
I remembered how she popped.
I turned into her love addict.
And with all her seductive powers, she came with a price.
But as a kid, I did not know that all flirtations were tagged.
And that I would stand in Shuggah’s line for years before payment became due.
I did not know then what my sweetheart was doing to certain parts of my body.
But now I saw her dangers weighing me down.
I opened my eyes and searched for new names on the bottles.
“Share a Coke with Gangstas”
“Share a Coke with Killas”
“Share a Coke with a Syphilitic Hoes”
I had found my suspect in that lineup.
I did not need a dragnet.
“Share A Poem With Your Friends.”
Consider saving a life.
What the Readers are saying:
In “Share a Coke with Mort”,
Mort’s intention was to show the negative effect of Coke on his being and therefore the probable effect on the masses.
His unintended message was the over-sexualization of society influenced by advertising. He demonstrates this by sex being interwoven into the fabric of his poetic expression, just as Coke’s original voluptuous shape of the bottle affected our desire to drink and feel coke.
A reflection of our time.
Felix
Nice one. I thought it was an invitation to a party and I was all excited. But this was good, too. The 60’s?
Warm wishes, Cara
Great poem. and a lot to think about. Tx —Sara
