In order to view this poem with the line breaks the author intended, we suggest reading it on a computer screen or in landscape orientation on your phone or tablet.

grocery driver

All the schoolkids take the mickey
when they stop by the supermarket for
their crisps and pop, make crudities
about Dave’s ponytail and the ring in his ear.
His hair is thinning, his beard’s grey.
If you ask about the past, all he’ll say
is general, or pleasantries.
He’ll show you how to stack a van
and which shortcuts are best for deliveries.
He smooths things over when ladies
receive inappropriate alternatives
and challenges light-fingered chavs.
Managers can rely on this man
to accept overtime with dignity.

—
Niall McGrath is a twice Pushcart Prize nominated writer in the 2020s, most recently for 2026, from County Antrim, N Ireland. He has had work appear in Tears in the Fence, The South Carolina Review, Ashville Poetry Review, Poetry Scotland, and French Literary Review, among other journals. He is Assistant Editor of Northern Ireland’s premier journal of the art and culture, Fortnight. Recent selections include oral tradition (Alien Buddha, USA, 2024) and Shed (Lapwing, UK, 2021).

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