Love Song for Chemist Warehouse

Love Song for Chemist Warehouse

In Crocs I wander through the gaudy maze

My latest e-scripts ready to be scanned

“Generic is fine,” I say in a daze

Before waiting beside the Telfast® stand.

The pharmacist looks bored enough to die

Wishes he’d studied a different degree

He hands me my drugs with a lifeless sigh

To the soundtrack of Spice Girls, Wannabe.

Shopping on impulse is fine cos it’s cheap

Like sirens, the half-price vitamins sing:

Relieves mild joint pain! Calms the nerves, aids sleep!

And who knows, I might one day need this sling.

My loot is bagged, I pay the massive bill

I’ll work more hours and hope it makes me ill.

Louise Carter is a poet and writer based on Gadigal country. She holds a PhD in Australian postmodern romantic poetry from Western Sydney University and her first poetry collection Golden Repair was published by Giramondo in 2023. Louise’s current project Aerial is a sequence of essays that explores themes of embodiment and female strength, inspired by her journey of learning pole dancing.