Robert Okaji: Postcard from Pandemic
They stack their cart with essentials:
frozen garlic, six packages of grilled
mushrooms, fifteen cans of garbanzo
beans, three bottles of truffle oil and
enough alkaline water to float a fleet
of dinghies. There is, alas, no hand
sanitizer, no toilet paper. You must
decide, he says, between the jar of
organic marinara and the 2% milk.
Weighing need against desire she
chooses the sauce, then selects a
bundle of the brightest daffodils.
Robert Okaji is a widely published poet who is currently working on the front lines at a grocery store in Indianapolis.
Sad–when Black and Latinos are dying of covid with little to eat– some are hoarding not just regular water but alkaline water. Thank you for sharing.
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And thought the supermarket frenzy started here in Australia…I hope you have fully recovered Robert… hugs from distant Geelong..
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And thus started the pandemic garbanzo bean shortage.
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Loved this!
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Agreed. Awesome ending!
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Thank you very much.
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Welcome.
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Beauty before existential crisis for sure. Hmm..toilet paper daffodils? 😉 Hope you’re well and good Bob.
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It could come to that, though I managed to score a small pack of tp yesterday. We’re all fine here, and hope to stay that way!
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Love how this poem ends!
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Thank you, Lynne. An example of life and art meshing!
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