Aisle Four at Tesco

John Kitchen

 

Hiya Roy I say. Hiya he

replies.

What you got in the bugaboo

grandkid is it?

No he says the wife            Deirdre.

The wife how can that be?

 

Cryogenics he says ain’t science amazing snip

& stitch pump her full of preserves

and rapid chill to zero K. Come on

you ain’t got no deep freeze body

in that there push chair.

No he says couldn’t go

the whole hog see the red casket

in there’s her brain I’m taking it

out for a stroll.

But she can’t tell can she? It’s

good for me says Roy

you know contact routine. You

being done too I ask?

Dunno spect I might funds

permitting.

How long ‘fore Deirdre’s thawed

& will she function just like before

(thinking of frozen strawberries

turning to mush.)

Be like a pea says Roy sweet

as the moment.

Sweet      Deirdre bloody

hell mate

they’d better have maple syrup

on tap       barrels full if you get

my drift  – Roy what were you thinking.

Shhh he says

she might be listening.

John is based in Leicester. He writes plays and poems. The latter have been published in HCE, Ink Sweat &Tears, from Dusk to Dawn and others. He has been read on Radio 3 by Imogen Stubbs.

Edited by Sophie Petrie