Chinese Mini-Mart

I was surprised
at how little
I recognised
in the Chinese mini-mart

sure
I knew the usual Pig’s feet,
heart
and ribs

You got your noodles,
rice’s,
sauces, herbs and spices
but
I’ve merely dabbled
with your average amount

The packaging
for example
scared the reasonable adult in me

all of it, so horrifyingly vast
the chaotic shelving
heavy
with brightly coloured lettering
and pale smiling faces

I could feel the industrial force
burning forth
from their eyes

my mind grappling
with the glowing assembly lines
that must exist
somewhere
out there

a cliché maybe?
sure
these things happen
when over exposed
to the wrong media

I’ve never been to China
and I would like to go
someday

but
I don’t know
what struck me as
hollow
in the dank light
of the dusty shop
next to the train station

I tapped my finger
against the side
of a tub
of salted jelly fish

I tried to imagine
what could be gained
from eating
salted jelly fish

I picked up
a vacuum packed Chicken leg
and
it took me at least five minutes
to realise
what it was

How fetal the thing looked
so scrunched up
and squeezed
the life saturated and barbequed away
a long time ago

Amongst the cases of Duck eggs
and various sweet sodas
there was a box
with a picture
of a commercial airliner on it

There it sat
in a food isle

just a picture of a plane
like it was all fine
like nobody would doubt

My mouth opened
and with my level best
politically correct
interested
and genuinely curious tongue
I asked
‘what the fuck?’

Wandering slowly
shrouded by my heavy ignorance
I nervously nodded at numerous staff members
whom I kept mistaking
for customers

Near the back of the shop
I noticed
a huge wooden pallet
stacked with what looked like
dusty watermelons

I circled it
noticed
that up on the wall
adjacent to the wired window
were framed paintings
for sale

one
was of the Virgin Mary
another
was of a kitten
and then there were two
3D style portraits
of
topless women

I continued to browse
fondled rubber sandals
avoided
crotchless panties
and scratched
the hairs on my chin

I found myself
feeling lost
a little like an old age explorer
or maybe
just another dumb westerner

This ‘China’ I hear about
is a super nation
a powerhouse
the future of civilisation
the beholders of the most spoken language in the world
builders
from complicated social frameworks
focused
gold medal winning machines
and the true bearers
of
weird shit

Mystified in that mini-mart
I surrendered

I surrendered to the true Kings and Queens
of my generation

I wanted to kneel
on the cold linoleum floor
to bow down
before a bucket
of flesh

but I didn't do either

instead
I just bought a packet of Goji berries
and sniggered
at the mistranslated description
that read
‘Rural Amorous Feelings’