Supermarket Diaries

For more than a decade, I have been a supermarket cashier, seeing customers for five minutes at a time as they pass through my line. At best, they are polite to me; at worst, they look right through me or take out their frustrations on me. And, in return, I have lost faith in humanity, and compassion for them. I wrote these poems to try to regain that compassion ― to find a way to think about them as individuals with troubles of their own.

"Mild-mannered grocery store employee by day, Nina Robins is a well-known performance poet who has twice performed at the National Poetry Slam. Her poetry has been described as 'exceptionally appealing,' 'heartbreakingly honest,' and 'subversively deep for work so overtly entertaining.' - Taylor Mali, author of "What Teachers Make"