that would probably involve a lot of slow meandering and pondering over which brand of ice cream to pack in their carts, so then again, maybe not. In any case, "A Supermarket in California" has got all the goods they'll ever need. In this poem, the market (and all of its delicious fruits and vegetables) seems to represent traditional family values, a consumerist culture obsessed with buying, and even America itself. As far as symbols go, the supermarket is a pretty all-encompassing one for American culture.