A Kid in a Shopping Cart
By Jim Jenner

He says zoom! and they do,
Imagination finding purpose
In the ordinary. A child's wish.

Cars file in, trucks and deliveries,
A morning rush to beat the traffic light
His mom can't push it that fast.

At the helm, he is learning, steering.
GM headquarters keeps watch on him,
A nearby Ford honks, already interested.

Gleeful, he waves back, his brown hand
Innocently trusting their fiscal faces
As they point him out, adopt him.

Drum of engines hum with energetic will;
the crosswalk pedestrian blinks, silent
Are the streets with the potential of sunrise.

This city he sees is as eager as he
To grow, manipulating environment
With quickness. He is its eventuality.

Anticipating the light, their feet shuffle
Toward the gas, the cart having passed.
He says zoom! and they do.

James Jenner is a senior at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. A student of literature and American Studies, he aspires to teach someday at the university level and open a used book store. His influences include, Cormac McCarthy, Robert Hass and John Freeman, a lesser known but highly talented poet. As of this writing, he resides in Southeastern Michigan just outside the boundaries of Downriver. His favorite animal is the koala bear.