Welcome to the mall – not the lovely open-air consumer villages that we shop in these days. Oh no. I’m talking about the three-story, recycled-air, seedy little den of 1984 American escapism. 🥤
After reading this week’s poem, if you’re so inclined, feel free to scroll down and check out some of the things happening in my world as I continue these adventures in writing. Now, on to some new poetry….
This week’s poem started with the mall, which now feels like writing about Atlantis, if Atlantis smelled strongly of Auntie Anne’s and kept one escalator limping along for half-hearted ascension purposes.
I miss old enclosed malls the way I miss bad decisions: fondly, suspiciously, and with full knowledge that the lighting made everyone look recently indicted.
They were climate-controlled cages for American longing. You walked through those glass doors and the weather disappeared. So did time. So did the last pretense of productivity.
Honestly, the whole place was church with better parking and a more ecumenical theology.
A mall never asked you to be holy. It barely asked you to be solvent. It simply gave your appetites somewhere to walk around without calling attention to themselves.
That was the trick. Slack-jawed among the lost, absolved by sensory overload.
You could drift for hours beneath harsh halogen, pretending to compare shirts while quietly fantasizing about Orange Julius. No one bothered you. No one demanded revelation. No one cared if you came out changed, poorer, or holding a pretzel the size of a steering wheel.
Now so many enclosed malls are dying, and fine. Some temples deserve the bulldozer.
Still, I understand the grief. The stores were never the point. The point was permission. A place to wander badly. To want foolishly. To touch the gods of consumerism and have them touch you back. In your wallet.
Hmmm… maybe it was more like church than I thought.
Sometimes I really miss a good mall. HBU?
As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to this week’s poem in the “Leave a Reply” comment section at the very bottom of this page.
-PS Conway 🍕 🍕 🍕
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the gospel according to Sbarro
at the mall
on an ungodly hot afternoon,
the pious traipse
in sweat-drenched polyester faith,
escaping the inferno without
dodging, perhaps,
perdition within.
recycled air soothes.
recycled air sickens.
spurious smiles stretch
up toward heaven,
the Lord just adores a smile –
but seek ye first the kingdom
of freon.
the escalator’s out again,
and now they ascend
like barefoot saints, except in
strait-laced sensible Sunday shoes,
another stairway toward heaven
broken again;
apparently, it’s not only souls
that require maintenance
though they shall offer each up
in healing prayer.
consumers of goods,
consumers of god,
satisfaction and salvation
priced about the same
when the faithful
rejoice and feast
beneath the hallowed heat lamps
of Sbarro.
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This Week’s Links to My Published Work…
- Purchase Echoes Lost in Stars
- on Amazon USA: https://a.co/d/eZPzwxX
- on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/ebjqinU
- on Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/avWTF19
- on Amazon DE: https://amzn.eu/d/8IDYSIv
- Purchase Life Sucks
- on Amazon USA: https://a.co/d/arnze2N
- on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/8sBYofv
- on Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/brzfJ4l
- on Amazon DE: https://amzn.eu/d/95Y4WAA
- My author website: https://psconway.com/
- My Interview with AllAuthor: https://allauthor.com/interview/psconway/
Media News…
*NEW* My interview with Steve Cuden for his brilliant podcast StoryBeat – what a great conversation! https://www.storybeat.net/p-s-pat-conway-poet-episode-395/
*NEW* My interview with Editor-in-Chief, Gabriela Marie Milton of Literary Revelations Publishing House: https://literaryrevelations.com/2026/01/25/the-portrait-of-a-poet-ps-conway/
*NEW* My interview with author Tricia Copeland on her podcast Finding the Magic Book is now available to watch: https://youtu.be/NhieYECI-H4
Latest Publication News
It has been a productive last few months for me. 12 POEMS published. If you are interested in a reading any of these, I have embedded the Amazon links below.
- This week, my 5 untitled haiku have been published in the haiku anthology, Haiku for Soulmates, published by the brilliant and award-winning Gabriela Marie Milton and Literary Revelations Publishing House. This is a gorgeous book – click on the title for the Amazon link.
* - My poem mercy will be published in The Ekphrastic Review on May 12. They are a literary “online journal devoted entirely to writing inspired by visual art. Their objective is to promote ekphrastic writing, promote art appreciation, and experience how the two strengthen each other and bring enrichment to every facet of life.”
* - My 3 poems – the wet centre is bottomless, laugh tracks, and three flights away – were published in Mouthful of Salt in Issue #3 on April 27. They are “a Black-led literary journal dedicated to bold, boundary-pushing storytelling. Our editorial vision is shaped by a wide range of lived experiences, and we are committed to creating a space where writers from across the globe can be seen, heard, and celebrated.”
* - My poem the color of staying was published in the Spring’26 edition of PHIL LIT Journal on March 15. This literary journal “promotes writing that engages with philosophical, metaphysical, ethical, & existential themes; without sacrificing beauty, craft, surprise, or risk.” Please be sure to check it out.
* - I have 2 poems – paint and i have seen love do the same – published in The Belfast Review, Winter/Spring 2026. Based in the north of Ireland, this gorgeous emerging literary magazine, in addition to poetry, “aims to create a dialogue between the arts, featuring genres not usually included in literary journals such as song lyrics, plays, screenplays, and hybrid forms, to better reflect the lived experience of art, the self, and the city.”
Latest News – Life Sucks…
So far, Life Sucks has received many ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Editorial Reviews. More to come soon.
I’m anticipating a whole bunch of solid Reader Reviews to begin populating Amazon in the next few weeks, too. The goal is to get to 50 Reader Reviews ASAP to kick Amazon’s promotion engine into a higher gear.
Speaking of Editorial Reviews, we secured a BIG ONE – BookLife. This is the indie press division of Publishers Weekly and represents a major credibility lift to my published work. Here is a link, in case you’re interested in reading the entire review:
And here are a few other snippets of other editorial reactions so far!
– “Snort-laughs and gasp-worthy wit – PS Conway goes there, and it’s hilarious.”
– “A must-read for anyone stressed, cynical, or just in need of a damn good laugh.”
– “Darkly funny, brutally honest, and weirdly comforting – like therapy, but with colonoscopies.”
🍕 COME BACK EACH WEEK FOR NEW POETRY 🍕
You show how easily we trade the true altar for a cheap heat lamp. We chase temporary comfort and mistake it for real truth. Great poem, my friend!
And some really shitty tasting mall pizza, too!! Hahaha. Amazing you still see Sbarro open in the last of our raggedy, straggling malls. So gross. Thanks, my friend!! 🙏🏻🍕🥤🌹