A supermarket just before closing

A nurse does her big shop

the rest of us are here for cider

or cigarettes or last minute milk

"I'll just nip down to Tescos

we MUST have cereal for breakfast.

Thank God I noticed before it closed"

and you see staff sitting on kick stools

chatting about plans for tonight and God knows

what they're getting up to in the warehouse

they are not shelf stacking they know

now is no time for unexpected visits from head office

and management will be in their armchairs

as the high viz jackets collect trolleys

headlamps reflect in puddles

it's pouring down outside we're better off in here

and the nurse carries on her shopping and now

there's a paramedic too these late night heroes

working through the night deserve better

than these tucked out shirts and the customer service only

till where the lady serving is straightening batteries

it just feels uneasy in here the too tough for teeth croissants

night time faces like the rejected items

on the reduced to clear shelf. 

"Not even for 25p."

The sad fruit and veg aisle crying out for the morning's delivery

and in the car park a man sits in a Vauxhall

with the lights turned off either a plain clothed

secuirty guard or just a man sat waiting and waiting but

in the morning he will be gone and there will be fresh bread again.