Cashier
The cashier stands at the head of her empty line
hands in apron pockets. Your full cart and you
she beckons to your zucchini
your cherries your four bottles of iced tea
sliced ham and green bananas and ground coffee
she hurries behind the counter
as if your small task
is what she has been waiting for
to bring her back to life
7/18/19
8/21/19
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
I worked night shift in a supermarket for a period of my undergraduate degree and I can tell you that proper customers unloading an entire basket or trolley of groceries were something we fell on like manna in the wilderness. Being bored at a checkout makes every minute feel like an hour.
Yes. I think I’d rather be way busy than standing around watching the clock tick and you are right, when activity comes in to interrupt a time of quiet like you mention, there is a heightened feeling of interest in things you would in usual times just let go down the belt to the bag, as you might say.