The Grocery List Poem by Theresa Ann Moore

Prepare a list of everything you need.
Stick to the essentials; do not exceed!
Take the bottles and cans from the closet.
Each container is worth a dime deposit.

Park the car in a space with your name upon it.
Hopefully a renegade cart won’t use it as a target.
It is time to start the game of hunting from shelves.
There are many shoppers fending for themselves

Off to the vegetable department for something healthy.
Look for organically grown; it is nutritional wealthy.
Here’s a tender cucumber, the nicest I have ever seen.
It is on the bottom of the pile; watch the rest careen.

What will be the menu, what will we have for dinner?
Should the choice be one with a thought to get thinner?
Count the grams of Trans fats and clogging cholesterol.
When it comes to sweet pastries, put up a guilty wall.

Challenges become defying, as the aisle space is restricted.
Mailed circulars guide radar to search for bargains depicted.
Buy one, get one for free. What if I only need a total of three?
Frozen dinners would make decisions much simpler for me.

Each item on the list has been crossed through with ink.
Oops, I forgot new scouring pads for the kitchen sink.
Here is the pet food isle; my cat loves these delicacies.
That reminds me, I should pick up a remedy for fleas.

Now to find a register that has a speedy cashier with a bagger.
She is jabbering with a friend, would someone please gag her.
The time has come to lay each purchase on the rolling belt.
The procession is nonstop; suddenly an anxious panic is felt.

Reduce the total bill with cut coupons and the bonus bottle receipt.
Relieved, I maneuver the wheeled barge; the mission is complete.
Done for another week, until the grocery list begins to grow again.
For now, I can remove the bothersome chore from my wilted brain.