GIULIO MAGRINI

 

Cruising The Aisles 

Of The Whole Foods Dream

We elude the pirouettes of dead patricians

Waltz through shopping aisles 

Of corporate supermarket aristocracy

To meet the dewy eyes of the 

Scheming incarcerated crew

Replenishing their supply of truffles and wagyu

They grin and beckon somberly 

Concerning my inquiring phalanges 

“Do not squeeze the startling militaristic

Symmetry of our fruit”

 

The realization of no loftier desire

Beyond organized frisée

Seductive and discreet sausages

Arranged with care and last imagined

In the adult toy area

In another section of town 

Where these patrons would not be found

Without the benefit of shadow

 

Our whimsy fades from this opulent grindhouse            

And pans to the softness of privilege

No recrimination breathes in these aisles

The assurance of organic freedom 

And the abiding thankfulness of being rational 

We are baptized from the womb 

Through the cervix of checkout

The elite newborns

Sucking on the upmarket teat of the Amazon provider 

We aspire for the elusive royal star papaya

Or Prawn Dumplings With Soy Ginger Sauce

But cling to the assurance that our patronage is 

Wholesome and morally sanctioned 

Not unlike the Lebensborn from our accusatory history 

And without original sin recollected

From the pipedreams of coddled religion 

And in our restless saffron somnambulation 

We are the ravenous and greedy 

Pigsty reality

Unmindful of grunts squeals and profit margins

Deafening our present and turning continuously in hallucination 

As the manipulators continue our enthusiastic aspiration 

For the best pork chop made from the loins of our ancestors

Saffron Leaves

And the saffron leaves 

Reflected in the water 

Wait with expectation 

To ascend to the heavens 

And search for their waiting descendants 

No longer here.

FOGLIE DI ZAFFERANO

E le foglie di zafferano

Riflessa nell'acqua

Aspetta con aspettativa

Per salire al cielo

E cerca i loro discendenti in attesa

Non più qui.

GIULIO MAGRINI

GIULIO MAGRINI: Giulio Magrini has been nominated by Lothlorien Press for a Best of the Net award in 2024 and a Pushcart Prize in 2024 by Brownstone Poets. He was also nominated for a Best of the Net award in 2025 by Lothlorien Poetry Journal. The Color of Dirt is an anthology of his poetry and flash fiction. Giulio asks interested readers in the USA and Canada to contact him by email at: giulio27@verizon.net and request a personalized copy. Other readers may buy the book through the usual internet sources at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. As Giulio Magrini tells us, “We have put our hands in the dirt and sanctified each other.”