Skip to Content
Art

Trip to the Supermarket During a Pandemic, an L.A. Taco Poem

11:49 AM PDT on April 2, 2020

Had to make a run to the store

to pick up a few essential items for my wife and me

Handkerchief covering half my mug

Sanitizer in tow, I felt like a cleanly bandit

Wiped down the shopping cart, 

Entered through that automatic door, like a game of Operation

The gargantuan grocery complex seemed colder than usual,

emptied of product and people

Half-empty shelves in Meat & Poultry

Blighted isles in Toilet Paper & Paper Towel

Price gouging goblins, capitalizing on consumer dependency

Dozen eggs for six bucks

Three oranges for five

Corporate courtesy, staying open for us folks

Government kickback? Most likely

They care about us, sure they do

Like a butcher cares for a pig on the chopping block

They’re only viable if we squeal a little bit

I’m checking out now,

but I’ll be back, got no choice

Cashier packed my produce with gloves on

and paused to cough, head in shoulder

Better get home and scramble these eggs before I crack

Already a user?Log in

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Become a Member

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

FBI, ATF, and LAPD Announce Crack Down on Drugs, Ghost Guns, and Crime Linked to Cartels in Harbor Area

The multi-agency investigation, which found the criminal activities stretching to associates in two counties in Northern California, yielded a total of 27 arrests, 30 firearms, 72,115 fentanyl pills, 1.7 pounds of fentanyl powder, 143 pounds of methamphetamine, 4.7 pounds of heroin, 1.9 pounds of cocaine, 1.7 of pounds PCP, and $44,000.

October 3, 2023

Exclusive: Top Film & TV Studios Spent Over $660 Billion on Stock Buybacks While Actors and Writers Live ‘Paycheck to Paycheck’

According to economist William Lazonick stock repurchasers like Apple could certainly use the tens of billions that they spend on buybacks to pay actors and screenwriters more. “The fact [is] they’re not paying them more,” and instead they’re making the rich richer.

October 3, 2023
See all posts