Tins of things

Gold cherry

By mcmanaman

Fri, 25 Oct 2019
  • 998 reads
5 comments
 

All this food we’re eating

tells a story about Britain.

These cupboard doors are wobbly,

maybe this isn’t as nice a kitchen

as we thought when we first moved in.

 

You can’t blame people

for cutting down on spending

since the results of the referendum.

Their trolley is full of tins of things,

gathering enough to build a fort big enough

to block out sunlight and common sense.

 

Stockpiling. Is it worth it?

A chest freezer full of pizza to make you feel safe,

just in case. This is what chaos creates.

Tins of beans, corned beef, Spaghetti Hoops.

chopped tomatoes, plum tomatoes, tinned fruit.

 

When we were in Italy we ate haloumi

from the grill every morning

this is life for some people

constantly eating fresh pineapple,

wearing nice sunglasses, living by the coast,

away from all the worry

but does anyone ever read

the books they buy on holiday?

 

In the supermarket, on aisle four

their trolley is too heavy to push,

so full of tins of things to stash in their cupboards

and eat on toast. Beans on toast,

ravioli on toast, Spaghetti Hoops

on toast forever.

 

Certificate PG
Poem

Comments

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I wonder how many people are doing this

 

Submitted by onemorething on

I am ashamed to admit that I am very attracted to the idea of panic buying. Mostly tinned tomatoes and packets of lentils. I keep getting through them and having to start again. I think I find the idea of post-apocalypse survival appealing. When it snows I can be found in Sainsbury's buying tinned tomatoes. Your poem has made me think that I should start varying my tinned goods though. I'd forgotten about tinned ravioli. So far I think I have kept my urges to panic buy under control, but this poem may have tipped me over the edge. 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

"this is life for some people

constantly eating fresh pineapple,"

love this :0) There was someone on the radio yesterday saying how they might move back to Ghana for the pineapple.

You raise an interesting point about all these people buying tinned stuff to have on toast -  what will they make the toast with as bread doesn't come in tins. Baked bean bolognese?

 

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Submitted by hudsonmoon on

Love the whole tone of this. We do this in America anytime we get wind of a bad storm coming. Everyone out there stcking up on milk, bread and eggs. I'd hate to think how they'd act if real trouble was brewing.