Trashcan Poem

Trashcan Poem

Matt

Valerio

Dozens of half-drunk water bottles, with water that would smell unpleasant because of tiny bacteria on the lip of the bottle from my mouth, expanding in number as time goes on, Crumpled up, eggshell white triple folded paper towel defaced by creamy peanut butter stains and a dark magenta grape jelly streak through the middle, a birthday card that hurt me when I read it, because the message “I look up to you” wasn’t true so I chose not to send it, a month-old receipt from Walgreens for a bottle of green tea that’s a foot long despite only having one item purchased, More water bottles, Handwritten drafts for my victimology final essay that took hours to construct but tossed away without a second thought, what happens to all that work? Reminder card for a doctor’s appointment that passed Stuff goes in the trash, time passes, the trash is emptied. Life goes on!