Once in a while a shopping cart
takes advantage of the slight slope
of the parking lot
and makes a run for it.

Some would say we can’t have that:
there are consequences;
there are property issues.

There are some who would argue
that shopping carts are things, property,
and that it is the right of a store
to demand that shopping carts docilely
stay where they are assigned
and perform their service
as mute beasts of burden;
after all, it is the law of ownership.

There are also some who would argue
that a shopping cart
has as much right to freedom
as the stars,
as much right to leave the parking lot
as the very shoppers who use them
and abandon them:
who has not seen a shopping cart, used and twisted,
left forlorn in the rain, to rust?

Yes, it is heartbreaking,
and yes, you can do something about it.
Don’t stop the runaway cart;
let it flee, drift off into the stars
with the warm wind in its basket,
a gleam in its chrome, and a bright future
in a world where there are no burdens
and wishes come true.

Help a shopping cart today.

[This message is brought to you by Shopping Carts For The Future, a non-profit organization. Note that association with known shopping carts, while not specifically prohibited by law, could be considered to be an offense against the Patriots Act in the continental USA, and may lead to restriction of an offender’s right to travel over USA parking lots. All rights reserved in the continent of North America, and any similarity to any event or person is purely coincidental. Published by and with the permission of the Committee to elect B.S. Carte, Ryder Carte, Agent.]