Regular readers of this blog might remember the a competition asking you to write a poem about, well, us. The prize for the best poem on the topic of mag nation, you might recall, would win FREE COFFEE FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
Now there were some great entries (we’re looking at you, David Weiss, you haiku ninja!), but as soon as we saw this entry we knew it was gonna take the cake.
Growing up as a tween midway on the Belgrave/Lilydale train line,
I had a Tamagotchi and Furby – my life was pleasantly benign.
If I helped mum with the food shopping I could get a special prize,
“As long as it’s under $6”, she yelled from the frozen meal aisle.
Luckily $5.95 was the price of my selection,
I ran up the escalator to the newsagent and spotted Dolly’s SEALED SECTION.
I tore carefully down the perforated dots, ripping the last bit too quickly,
Previous magazine experience includes mum’s Woman’s Day bought semiweekly.
“The sealed section is crap”, I thought as I flicked through those eight pages,
What kind of 13 year old girl do you think this shit engages?
Dolly Doctor is a joke; no one writes into a magazine about a rash,
And I have watched Home & Away, I’ve already seen Shane & Angel pash.
I flipped the pages with a vague and disinterested gaze,
Ads for Lip Smackers and Neo Pets swirling into a neon pink haze.
Fawning over JTT and Aaron Carter in the Year 7 corridors,
The next few years were spent ranking our top ten most eligible bachelors.
Years 7-10 were filled with similar magazine based disappointments,
Cleo, Girlfriend and Cosmo were all akin to flies in the glossy, beige-coloured ointment.
One Tuesday afternoon I made my way from Flinders St Station to JB Hi-Fi,
Remember in 2004 music copyright laws were something most abided by…
Elizabeth Street: 82, 84, 86, 88…
I turned my head to the left and went into a psychological state.
Running through the doors, my eyes couldn’t take it,
There’s more to life than “How to make your boyfriend commit”?
I saw titles like Frankie, Oyster and Yen,
I’d never buy a magazine with A FREE EYESHADOW VALUED AT $11.95 again.
I saw Vogue magazine from all over the world,
I could read about winter fashion in summer; a new world unfurled.
Shit, there’s even a magazine for dearest little Maggie,
Reading “Dogs Life” sure made her tail go all waggy.
Then there was the cooking mag section, don’t even get me started,
Over the next few years definitions of words like “reduction” and “jus” would be imparted.
On that Tuesday afternoon at Mag Nation I lost track of time,
(Kind of like I have been for my whole lunch break writing this rhyme).
I love everything about you, the homely vibe and the coziness,
The amazing selection of magazines and the employees’ effusiveness.
Mag Nation – what you mean to me is difficult to describe,
But one thing is for sure – to you I will never unsubscribe.
Emily Naismith, you are hereby certified mag nation poet laureate for perpetuity!
(Oh, and if you’re wondering what the photo is; Emily came in to claim coffee number one of 365 today and since we hadn’t managed to make a gold medallion or giant quill pen trophy to present her with like we’d planned, well, we just rigged a super deluxe version of our Coffee Loyalty Cards with a bit of silver pen. Yeah, we’re good like that…. call us the MacGyvers of the mag game.)
wow that was a great poem. i guess i dont mind that it beat my haiku’s!
love you guys anyway, and all your competitions. your by far my favorite business across all the industries!
That was beautiful! :O Well deserving of a win!
OXOX
And oh so accurate! Brought back many adolescent memories… The only thing missing? Smash Hits and TV Hits magazines… those were the days!