Transport

By Jane Blanchard

After Gabriele Münter’s Still Life on the Tram

       (After Shopping), c. 1909-1912

I used to take the Strassenbahn

from my apartment to my work

where I was paid to focus on

odd books as an accounting clerk.

But come the weekend I would use

a car to haul a lot of food,

plus other items I could choose

if any interest had accrued.

These days I take a shuttle van

from my apartment to some store

where shopping goes as best it can

when I am faced with goods galore.

See, at this point I do not need

or even want too much to hold

since there is only me to feed

or elsewise keep, and I am old.

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Jane Blanchard lives and writes in Augusta, Georgia. Her work has recently appeared in Amethyst Review and Pulsebeat Poetry Journal. Her new collection with Kelsay Books is Phenomena (2026).