24 - Franchise

#NaPoWriMo Day 24 and I wrote a piece of free verse inspired by the prompt “an Inconvenience Store”, after something in a conversation with one of my partners sparked the notion. I started riffing on what books in an inconvenience store would be like, and then this poem turned up later.

Remember that, if you’re a subscriber to my Patreon, you can hear a recording of this piece (and the twenty-three preceding it) there. The link to the relevant post is here: https://www.patreon.com/fayroberts/posts/franchise-168468340

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The opening hours are on a rota,
operating on base thirteen-and-a-half,
and staff aren’t expected to start until
half an hour past the advertised time
(if you can find it).

The push-to-open door is marked
Pull, and the chime it summons does so
somewhere in the range beyond
human hearing, endearing itself
to a range of nearby creatures.

Every knife is as blunt as your uncle,
made up for by the teaspoons,
scooping their scalpel way free
of all confinement, which is
how they hide after purchase.

The labels for the food are all in Ge’ez,
directions to the exits in Quipu,
while the WiFi password changes
every 49 minutes, a blend of
Tagalog and Tengwar.

Welcome to the books section,
where nearly every volume is
the second of a trilogy, and printed
in point 2 or 200, the paper
gossamer-thin or thick as vellum.

The shopping baskets have one
handle each, the trolleys, once
you’ve prised one from its mate,
have wheels that are distinctly
non-Euclidean, myriad, or solo.

If you’re interested in opening
your own branch of the singular
Inconvenience Store, the application
forms are comprehensive, and
only accessible on Internet Explorer 4.

Don’t ask about the bags. Trust us.

Oddly enough, I made this one myself. (Yes, there’s an alt-text transcription!)