Velveteen

No one expected Hot Topic
to cancel our Velveteen.
However, it happened, they stopped it
sometime before Halloween.

They’ll be no cotton candy necking.
No girlish ghoul of me this year.
Cashier said, “Just buy Sweet Lies or Moonbeam
or Fairy Blood or Glimmer. Who cares?”

“Ah, but my neck-sniffing friend will take notice!
Oh, my neck-sniffing friend will care!
It’s just that my neck-sniffing friend will be there
and my neck-sniffing friend’s why I’m there!”

“I see,” she said, “I dunno.
It’s not even online. It’s all gone.”
I should’ve stocked up while I could’ve.
What a fool I’ve been, waiting so long!

I just know my vampire will sniff me,
right before we say our goodbyes,
and this year, instead of vanilla,
I’ll harbor the ‘fresh scent’ of Sweet Lies.

“It’s true,” I will say, “It’s not the right one.”
“Velveteen’s over. Please trust that I’m blue.”
“It was so sweet while it lasted, my fiend.
Now the Lies ’round my neck are for you.”

Suzanne O’Toole is a Boston-based spoken word poet. She enjoys acting and particularly loves lending her voice to several characters on various podcasts. She can be found playing the voice of Janet’s mother, Theresa Clarke, on the space-themed time-traveling show entitled Solutions to Problems. She is a proud graduate of Improv Asylum’s Training Center for improv comedy. She welcomes acting, voice work, & spoken word opportunities and can be reached at suzanne.m.otoole@gmail.com.