the crate at the back of the shop
by Mehak Soin, Haileybury
Years 9 – 10 Written Poetry Finalist
there is a crate at the back of the shop.
no one looks at it twice.
because looking would mean noticing it exists.
fruit sits inside it like it has already understood
what it is allowed to become.
an apple with a bruise
pressed into the skin like a decision that can’t be undone.
a peach softening past the point of preference.
still whole.
just no longer chosen.
i don’t remember when it started
this way of deciding things.
what stays in sight.
what doesn’t.
it feels small at first.
almost nothing.
a hand choosing one fruit over another.
a glance that moves on.
but nothing stays small for long
when it is repeated enough times
to stop being noticed.
the bruised ones do not disappear.
they are simply moved further back
until their presence stops being a question.
and i think that is what unsettles me.
not that things are left.
but that they are left so cleanly
it stops feeling like leaving at all.
just order.
just how it is.
the fruit does not change.
it only waits differently.
and we learn to pass it
without interruption.
again.
until passing becomes automatic.
again.
until nothing inside it feels like it is asking to be seen.
and still it stays there.
not abandoned in a way that looks like loss.
but in a way that looks like normal.
that might be what i cannot stop thinking about.
how something can remain in front of us
and still become invisible
without ever moving.
and the crate stays where it is.
becoming less of a place
and more of a fact.
not gone.
not chosen.
just continued.
and i cannot tell which part is worse.
the fruit that changes.
or us.
Listen to Mehak recite her poem:
How did writing this poem make you feel?
Hopeful.
Which single line in your poem are you the absolute proudest of?
i think the line i’m proudest of is ‘how something can remain in front of us and still become invisible without ever moving’. i think what i love about it is that it captures the whole idea behind the poem without explicitly explaining it. the fruit never actually disappears. it’s still there, in the same place, but the way people see it changes until they stop seeing it at all. i think there’s something quite unsettling about that, because it makes you realise that sometimes things don’t have to disappear for us to lose sight of them. we can become so used to overlooking something that we stop questioning why we’re overlooking it in the first place. i wanted the poem to be about more than just a crate of unwanted fruit. i wanted it to explore the way we decide what deserves our attention, and how easily those decisions can become so ordinary that we no longer recognise them as decisions at all. i think this line is where that idea comes together most naturally, and i’m proud of it because it leaves the reader with something to think about beyond the poem itself.
Describe your poem in three words
Human, subtle, slightly disquieting
Where is your absolute favourite place to sit when you are brainstorming ideas?
probably sitting by my bedroom window with music playing. i think there’s something about having music in the background and just watching the world outside that makes it easier to let my mind wander. i don’t necessarily sit down with the intention of coming up with an idea, but sometimes the best ones come when i’m just sitting there, thinking about absolutely everything and nothing at the same time.
Why do you think people write poetry?
People write poetry to express something they can’t articulate, a feeling, a concept, a burning desire or passion.