Poem: Bumper Stickers

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Post Author: MaryAnn McKibben Dana

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With the U.S. presidential election one week away, I have been obsessed with bumper stickers–collecting them, reading them, tallying up the McCain vs. the Obama ones in the swing state in which I live.

Some time ago I saw a bumper sticker taped to a car, and I got to thinking about our ideals and the permanence (or impermanence) with which we hold to them. What messages would you be willing to affix to your life forever? What messages come and go with the times?

Bumper Stickers

ah, dear driver of the hulking black metal,
you “Imagine Peace” in earnest black letters
on a wide strip of white—
and you trumpet your sentiment with
four careful pieces of tape,
tape that will dissolve into gunk,
but easily disappear with goo-gone
purchased at the hobby lobby.
where’s the commitment?
do you think Peace is justsoclose,
so easily imagined, like the song
on the tip of your tongue, then YES!
that nothing of yours need be peeled away
in the process?

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Image by: Sticker Mule
Used with permission