Line Up At London Drugs

I’ve got what I came for:

Cover-up, cat food, and

My weekly mags.

Now,

Which line to choose?

Tills 2 and 6 are open.

It would be smart

To go to the smallest line up

But then,

I look at till 2

And the first person has

Fifty or sixty

Tid-biddly little things

To ring through.

I decide on till 6.

Such, slow, service…

The lady in front of me

Smells like she’s been

Sampling perfume.

After a patient, long, dull wait,

The till

Flashes, whirs, and dings,

And it’s finally my turn.

The bored cashier goes through

Her automatic spiel:

LD extra card? Bag? Debit or credit?

So many questions!

Just give me my order

Let me get out of here!

As I finally step out of

The confines of the over-lit store,

I feel freer and

Able to breathe again.

However,

I will probably go back

Next week

For another joyful

Experience of

Standing in

A London Drugs line up,

Waiting to pay.

The idea for “Line up At London Drugs” came from a request for a poem about an experience in a place. One place that I frequently go to is London Drugs. My insight for the poem is that everybody must learn patience with life’s little aggravations, like standing in a line up at London Drugs. I kept the poem simple and spoke from a single voice of a frustrated customer. I used sound alliteration (example: “Such, slow, service”) and onomatopoeia (example: “flashes, whirs and dings”). The images used (example:  The lady in the line up that had sampled perfume) represents how most people are selfish and don’t think of others comfort ahead of themselves. The perspective that I had was that we as a human race are bound by habit and convenience, as is represented by my reluctant return to London Drugs, even though there are other places to get the same products from.