Checkout Manga – Micropoetry

Checkout Manga

In between customers
She draws manga
On the back of receipts
Slips them into groceries
And wonders if Godzilla
Eats breakfast cereal

Author’s Note: I don’t comment on why I write, the reasons behind a poem or its meaning. But today is different.

I was going through the checkout at Woolworth’s tonight, buying milk. The girl at the checkout, while waiting for customers, was writing on the back of a discarded receipt.

There was Japanese writing and a little manga-style cartoon. I said, “Cool drawing” and she was a little embarrassed.

Quick transaction and I was on my way. It was the little drawing I found intriguing; an insight into another person’s life. It inspired the first half of the poem and I turned the second half into a little whimsy.

The power of story from someone’s life. Look for the moments.