Shopping again

May 29, 2006
iranian.com

Going shopping again
In search of good bargains

Trying to get your hands
On some unique stuff
So that you can show them off
Proudly to your friends, relatives
And neighbors

There you go,
Wearing top designer labels
Carrying shopping bags
With fashion logos
Showing others
The proof of your wealth

You see thousands of others
Shopping in the malls, you think
It is the most natural thing

Shopping is your leisure activity
It is your way of life

You buy something
It feels good
You are pleased

You assume: this is happiness
While fleeing from all sadness
Shunning suffering, grief, and pain

But you are a tragic figure, blind
To other ways of gratifying yourself
Of maintaining a sense of self
Is this the way to pursue happiness?
Is this the road to contentment?

The pretty things you buy
The illusions of exclusivity
They can never hide
The lack of substance and culture

No one ever sees you with a book
No one ever sees you absorbed in a book

Your pleasures are of the moment
But material things can never bring you
A lasting happiness and contentment
This can only come from within

You are all caught up in a cycle
It is superficial and unsatisfying

Wake yourself up, consumer
You must save yourselves
Change can only come from within

-Rotterdam, Netherlands