The Weekly Shop

Walking around a supermarket the other day, I couldn’t help overhear a couple of women complaining vociferously about various items not being available on the shelves. This proved to be the spark for the following poem, I hope you like it.

The Weekly Shop

Keen bright eyes take careful aim
as the long thin pipe seeks hidden game.
Cheeks bulge, then, with a puff,
the speeding dart finds the scruff.
Deadly toxins still the beast
the hunter’s earned his next feast.

With smoking leaves and homemade axe,
high on the cliff, a young man hacks.
Angry voices fill the air
as honey bees protect their lair.
The raider drops his hard won prize
towards his family’s upturned eyes.

With nimble fingers they pluck at shrubs
collecting berries, leaves and grubs
or use sharp sticks to dig the soil
for roots and tubers they really toil.
Termite, lizard, frog and beetle
are normal fare for many people.

Heavy plant roars and rumbles
as from its bowels rubbish tumbles.
Across the piles of fetid waste
figures dash with frenzied haste
to gather scraps, with naked hands,
that filled the city’s garbage cans.

A wonky wheel on the trolley
woke her babe which sucks a dummy.
She moves along the sterile aisle
and flashes staff a plastic smile,
selects produce that bears no scar,
then pays and races to her car.

John Carré Buchanan
04 September 2015



This poem is linked to Poets United.

Comfort Eating

I’ve been battling with comfort eating for a long time, often eating family packs of peanut M&Ms or Minstrels at a time. This is seriously bad news as I have put on quite a bit of weight and of course increased cholesterol and the risk of diabetes etc.

Determined to change my ways I decided to add the amount of chocolate I am eating onto my pacing schedule,(a list of pain management tasks I have to do each day to improve my ability to live with pain). The net result is that I have managed to beat the munchies, to celebrate I decided to write this poem. I hope you like it.

Comfort Eating

Sitting alone, in the dimly lit room
the depression came to a peak.
Nothing could stop it
and no one could help
I felt like some form of freak.

Deep in my brain a chemical change
Suggested I needed to eat.
My mind tried to fight it
It knew the whole truth
It didn’t want veg, carbs or meat.

It was craving for chocolate
and not just one bar
it told me I needed much more.
A family pack might do the trick
I felt I could eat a big Jar.

For the fifth day this week
the stash in my draw
called silently from afar.
As if a link from chocolate to brain
Kept shouting; ‘John you need more’

It wasn’t true, I knew it was wrong,
But it kept on calling my name
so I struggled and fought
and battled all night
determined not to feel shame.

It’s now a week later,
I’ve won every night!
The chocolate’s calls have diminished.
I’m using this win to improve my mood
and help turn the darkness to light.

John Carré Buchanan
11 January 2012