époque press
pronounced: /epƏk/
definition: /time/era/period
Declan Geraghty
Poetry
The Lost Shopper
The breeze
it’s cold and it beats against your face
you find brief warmth
only for the man behind the counter to shake his head apologetically
then you’re off again
the girl in the next place just laughs
like you were stupid enough to even bother asking
the breeze turns to rain
the light behind the window
it’s goodness seems to lilt
only for the same disappointing answer
it’s as if I forgot what I’m looking for
maybe it’s just a yes
an echo of some validation
until I get to the next place
the young man shakes his head
behind some comfy window
at the back of some homely desk
the wind is tossed with rain now sleet
a good looking young woman shakes her head and smiles
her brown eyes show pity
I put my hands back in me pockets
nod me head
and move on to the next place
Declan Geraghty is a writer and poet from Dublin. He’s had short stories appear in Dublin in the Coming Times, edited by Roddy Doyle, and From the Plough to the Stars by Culture Matters. He’s had poetry published in the UK in the Brown Envelope Book by Alan Morrison. Declan will also feature in the upcoming poetry collection Cry of the Poor edited by Fran Lock. He is currently studying Creative writing and Media Production whilst working on his first novel and short story collection.
Of the short story featured here, Declan states:
'I think in the consumerist environment with which we live, we put importance on things that we are programmed by Capitalist society to think we need. We scream validation as human being and capitalism latches onto our insecurities, while also stealing our time through advertising and distraction. The distraction with capitalism is every where, as the bigger the gimmick, no matter how subtly advertised, the better the sell. We are filling a void by buying a lot of goods that we don’t need, a void that we haven’t fully understood yet in society.'