Photography © Edward S. Gault

 

Having a breakdown at the New World

By: Garrett Alexander
Sliding doors too slow
Pet the dog
tied to the post
Produce
Electrical refrigeration hum
Cucumber, four dollars
covered in plastic
lungless-thing
Squeaky wheels
Trolleys of rice, cheese, and minced pies
Fluorescent lights
Shelves of hummus
original,
sun-dried tomato,
Garlic pita?
What’s the ratio between chicken wellbeing and egg price?
How many cages to take on today?
Baby crying
Is the baby crying at the four dollar cucumber or the lack of dessert hummus?
Reflective tile floor
Six inches by six
Cocoa beans from South America
Bok Choy–China
Self-checkout
Scan, scan
“Thank you for shopping at…”
Even my clothes are international
“…New World!”
Would you like a club card?
Made in Thailand, Vietnam, or Laos?
“Thank you for shopping at New World!”
Top ten holiday destinations
Organic!
And to the dog I’m sorry
sweatshops
And to the chickens I’m sorry
“Thank you for shopping at New World!”
An accident in the carpark
Five kilograms of sausage
smoke rising
Is the dog okay?
The pigs aren’t
Isle of only wine
Dream of Dionysus
$20.99
“Thank you for shopping at…”
Enough.

 

Garrett Alexander is a wilderness guide and writer living in North Carolina. He is an avid traveler and has lived throughout the U.S., South Pacific, and South East Asia. His work attempts to touch on the human condition, and all it entails.

Edward S. Gault is a poet and fine arts photographer living in Brighton, Massachusetts. His work has appeared in Oddball Magazine, Spectrum, Wilderness House Literary Review, Interlude, Currents, and Encore. His poetry collection, Airhead and Other Poems was published this year by Read and Green Books.