Jesus at the Harris Teeter

Posted on 2022/04/05 by Bartholomew Barker

I combined two prompts today:

For today’s prompt (the first Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the month), write a make sense poem and/or don’t make sense poem.

Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about a mythical person or creature doing something unusual.

Jesus at the Harris Teeter

In my pimpled youth, I worked at a grocery,
mostly restocking and cleaning up.
One day in produce, this long-haired, swarthy guy
approached with a package of dried figs.

“Don’t you have any fresh figs?“

I told him we only got them in summer
and here it was barely April. Nobody
else seemed to notice the faint halo
fluttering over his head.

“You should keep fresh figs in stock.“

I shrugged, this guy wasn’t making sense.
Despite my best efforts, he wouldn’t accept
that for everything there was a season—
only irrational customers were available year-round.

He muttered some curse as he walked away.
My store closed the very next day.

About Bartholomew Barker

Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.
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21 Responses to Jesus at the Harris Teeter

  1. JeanMarie says:
    2022/04/05 at 21:06

    Shock
    and then laughter
    Fab!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. ivor20 says:
    2022/04/05 at 22:00

    I figure that to be a anomaly

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Bill says:
    2022/04/05 at 22:14

    And there you have it. The fig curse. Nice combo.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. pensivepoetblog says:
    2022/04/05 at 22:35

    Love it. Great story. Great opening line. Also love the title. I didn’t tell you that yesterday but I love that title too, the Minutes and how you turn them into a bit of memoir about Angela. I really liked that. Also like “Only irrational customers. .” and that line.

    The ending seemed a little abrupt. I want more info about how the two things are connected.

    NIcely done, Mary

    On Tue, Apr 5, 2022 at 5:30 PM Bartholomew Barker, Poet wrote:

    > Bartholomew Barker posted: ” I combined two prompts today: For today’s > prompt (the first Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the month), write a make sense > poem and/or don’t make sense poem. Today, I’d like to challenge you to > write a poem about a mythical person or creature doing somet” >

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Annabel says:
    2022/04/05 at 22:40

    Oh, you’ve got the talent here! I’m impressed by this poem..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. ts19page says:
    2022/04/06 at 18:38

    Ooh! I really like this one! So fun and well done.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. ts19page says:
    2022/04/06 at 18:43

    Reminds me of a joke: Dolly Parton bought up Big Lots, Harris Teeter, and Piggly Wiggly. She changed the name to: Big Wiggly Teeters.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. luvgoodcarp says:
    2022/04/06 at 19:38

    Great sardonic use of the line “for everything there was a season.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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