Standing in the supermarket queue staring at the floor,
Inching patiently and slowly towards the supermarket door.
A snaky, wavy trail of shoppers stand respectively apart,
All waiting together for the highlight of their week to start.
We all ponder this new situation in a flabbergasted daze,
Who’d have thought at Christmas a supermarket queue would resemble crystal maze.
One in, one out, no longer synonymous with a pub or club,
But just the way we must behave if we want to buy some grub.
A line typical of airport security without the exciting destination,
A scene now the norm right across our nation.
I anticipate my moment of supermarket sweep,
Although with not a bargain deal in sight a shop no longer cheap.
But expected excitement still awaits of crisps, biscuits and frozen peas,
New cereal perhaps some cake and a brand new block of cheese!
Hoping that today I can shout bingo, tick all items off my list,
Flour, mince, perhaps broccoli, does bog roll even still exist??
I clutch my Bag For Life, adjust my gloves, my moment's drawing near,
I text a friend and neighbour, "Do you need anything as I’m here?"
My time's arrived, I reach the front, feeling like a winner,
Ready for my highlight of a spontaneous, unplanned surprise for dinner.
He passes the disinfected trolley, it’s my turn to enter through the door,
Previously, in different circumstances, I’d have said . . . I need to get out more!
By Michelle Stevens