We imagine the police
           In the dark times, will there also be singing?
                       Yes, there will be singing
                       About the dark times.
                       Bertolt Brecht, ‘Motto to the ‘Svendborg Poems’

we imagine the police
cameras catching other people
doing things that irritate us
in their cars
this is the police state
of mind
as we shop in the late evening
in the supermarket
that never closes
not even for God
& we try to remember what we want
& we try to buy only what we need
& desire keeps getting in the way
we genuflect
before other people’s shopping
in aisles sacred
to the memory of home
cooking & detergent
& the kind of things your mother baked
& as we are occasionally electrocuted
by the metal
we begin to believe
that bread belongs to today
that there are different qualities of white
that there are no preservatives
that the meat
is prime
& the supermarket cares for us
& that every little helps
it is chip & pin
in the late evening
under the watchful eyes
we imagine
people using our cards
to buy things we would never buy
in places we have never been
on a day or days
without our express
permission
this is the police state
of mind
as we drive home in the night
with a car full of things
we scarcely believe are real
our past haunted by
kitchen paper rolls
cans of asparagus tips
stick & click LED lights
mosquito candles in case
we get global warming soon
disposable barbecues
fruit psychosis
& probiotic yoghurt
& canned salmonella
& thawing petits-pois
& lawn weed ‘n’ feed
& a nest box
& a special kind of notepaper
that has forget-me-nots
& a memory stick
& a device for opening
reluctant cardboard cartons
& a fold up tent
for when we fold our tent
& a wallet-full of promises
that there will still be shopping
no matter how dark the time