This is Poetry Moment on WPSU – a weekly program featuring the work of contemporary Pennsylvania poets. Your host is poet Marjorie Maddox, a 2023 Monson Arts Fellow, author of more than 20 books, and retired professor of English and creative writing at the Lock Haven campus of Commonwealth University.
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Welcome to Poetry Moment. I’m Marjorie Maddox
What did you learn from your first “real” job? Poet Joseph Chelius reminisces, “Such [jobs] as newspaper carrier, janitor, and grocery clerk, though arduous and sometimes monotonous, taught me how to work with diligence. . . , to get along with various kinds of people,. . .. to take pride in doing a task well.” Today’s poem, “Stockboy,” is a tribute. It also is a lament.
Joseph Chelius grew up in Southwest Philadelphia and the Delaware County suburbs. A former Bucks County, Pennsylvania poet laureate, Joe has lived in the county with his family for 31 years. He is the author of two full-length collections of poetry: The Art of Acquiescence and Crossing State Lines (WordTech editions).
A strong work ethic, adult responsibility, independence, new skills—all benefit the working teen. Are there also sacrifices? Sure. Today’s poem, “Stockboy” by Joseph Chelius, argues the privilege of work, as cited often by his parents. More subtly, the poem hints at regret—for lost time with childhood friends.
Here’s “Stockboy” by Joseph Chelius
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It was a privilege those first afternoons
to bag groceries for the cashiers
and be sent to shepherd
a herd of carts that had strayed
from the pasture of the parking lot—
carts he found adrift on corners,
left to graze at curbs, against telephone poles.
And later, to have the honor
of going out again in his zippered fleece
to clean up the boxes
the full-timers had been flinging
out the back door and into the driveway—
empty boxes of Contadina Tomato Paste
and Smuckers Jam with broken jars
that brought out the bees
like late bargain hunters to market—
picking over the remnants.
So lucky for him to have been given this job,
his parents reminded him each night at dinner,
when instead of frittering away time after school,
playing touch football with his friends,
he was gaining valuable experience in the workforce,
carrying boxes to the squat compactor
in a dank-smelling shed among mildewed pallets,
glancing skyward every so often
as geese flew by in their straight formations,
the leaders sounding remarkably
like the store manager, honking orders,
with him turning a doleful eye toward the stragglers—
wary and uncertain, awaiting the next turn.
--Published originally in Rattle (Fall 2017)
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That was “Stockboy” by Joseph Chelius. Thanks for listening.
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Listen for Poetry Moment with Marjorie Maddox Mondays during Morning Edition and All Things Considered on WPSU. You can more episodes at wpsu.org/poetrymoment.
Our theme music is by Eric Ian Farmer.
