Perusing the hardware store
(shops are limited these days)
nothing to tantalize the imagination
still, I browse, searching for normalcy.
Death loiters in aisle 9
taunts me with visions of life
once vibrant, now stolen
leers at me and I bolt
Grocery store holds more allure
ingredients to stir the appetite
the phantom stalks here too
leaves fingerprints on tin cans
The coffee shop has drinks to go
but the spectre follows, leers
schoolboy smug – I’m not sure
whether to laugh or cry
Unamused by the implications
and yet somehow reassured –
the humour doesn’t escape me –
warped this new norm.
I wouldn’t go to the store either, V.J. We had to take the cats into the vet for their shots and wellness check. The assistant came out to the car and got the cats and them brought them back when finished. The bank was drive-through only. I went to the grocery store and a young man sanitized my cart for me when I arrived. It wasn’t full of customers and it was pretty well stocked although I only went to the produce and dairy sections. Oh, and wine! Everyone was very polite but distant, as we should be.
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Amazing how we have all adapted. I hope we can maintain it long enough to beat this thing.
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Me too! But I think our lives will be changed forever. Hopefully, for the good.
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Agreed
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Well, isn’t this a perfect reflection of how people think. One of our grocery stores have made the aisles one way only and have marked the floors so people will not stand too close to one another. We wear masks wherever we go. A sign of the times – yikes!
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Thanks Eugi! Ric says our grocery stores are the same.
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Certainly the new norm is warping our sense of security. 😦 I feel your journey into unknown dangers that lurk everywhere. By the way, what is the significance of aisle 9?
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Ha ha – nothing really – just the number that came to me. The poem is based on a dream I had. I don’t actually go into the store right now.
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This poem really hits home. I’m germ-phobic under the best of circumstances.
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Terrifying at the moment.
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I try not to think too much when I need to shop, keep the panic invisible like everything else!
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I don’t even go out, so you know where my level of panic is, lol.
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….so well put; giving voice to many of us
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Thanks! Appreciate your feedback.
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Exactly my thought.
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Thanks Liz.
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You’re welcome.
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Do I dare to eat a peach?
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Wash it first, I’d say.
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Do I dare disturb the universe?
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Lol. You have to ask?
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Nice one! I’ll stay away from aisle 9 today 🙃
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Lol. Thanks.
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