Psalm 23.1

A Prayer for the Holiday Season

by Joel Savishinsky / November 23rd, 2025

The Lord is my shopper; I shall not want.
      He maketh me to lay down my green dollars.
He leadeth me beside new bargains.
      He restoreth my credit.
He guides me down paths of reverence
      for his name brands.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of
                                                      the shadow of debt,
      I will fear no collector,
for thou art with me;
      thy debit and thy bank card,
      they comfort me.

Thou preparest a smorgasbord before me
      in the presence of the homeless;
you anoint my head with artisanal oil;
      my withdrawals runneth over.
Surely good taste and envy shall follow me
      all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the deal
      forever.

      Amen

Joel Savishinsky is a retired anthropologist and gerontologist. His Breaking the Watch: The Meanings of Retirement in America, won the Gerontological Society of America’s annual book prize. A Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee, and a California Quarterly, Third Wednesday, Passager, and LIGHT Magazine award winner, his poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in Beyond Words, Blue Collar Review, Consequence, The Decolonial Passage, the New York Times, the Opiate, and Windfall. The Poetry Box published his collection Our Aching Bones, Our Breaking Hearts: Poems on Aging. He lives in Seattle, considers himself a recovering academic and unrepentant activist, and is trying to help raise hell and five grandchildren. He can be reached at: savishin@gmail.com. Read other articles by Joel.

This article was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2025 at 8:00am and is filed under Poetry.