These days, so common a task as grocery shopping leaves its unique mark on poetry

Colorado authors, thinkers and readers share their thoughts on living through historic times as the state fights the progress of coronavirus

by Susan Delaney Spear 2:00 AM MDT on Apr 16, 2020

Week Two

I risk a trip
to King Soopers
for essentials:
milk, bread,
eggs, bananas.
Shoppers smile
six feet wary
and swallow the urge
to cough, converse.
A sneeze—
we freeze.

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A green plant
droops, a shamrock
on clearance. A bargain
wasting away
at ninety-nine cents.
Moved by the hunger
to heal, my gloved
hand selects
this least-of-these
items and places
it in my cart
beside the bread.

Susan Delaney Spear is an associate professor of English at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, but for the time being her classes meet in her personal ZOOM room. In 2018, her collection “Beyond All Bearing” was published by Wipf & Stock.