"Jay-Gee closes"

Today's poem, "Jay-Gee closes" is based on the following.

After 61 years in Cornwall, Joane Assaly, owner of Jay-Gee Shoes, has announced that the store will close by the end of August of this year. "Competition from stores like Wal-Mart made it impossible to continue," she said. Jay-Gee comes form her her uncle's name and her father's name: Joe and George. The two brothers owned and operated the elite shoe store for almost sixty years, until George died this past year. Joe preceded him over a decade ago. The quality of merchandise the store carried simply is not available in Wal-Mart. Cornwall has lost another local store with the character to distinguish us form the homogenizing effect of the ubiquitous giant box stores, and we will suffer for it as a tourist destination and as a place to live.

Too bad most residents are unable to see that.