Tuesday, trash day
Roll the big green dumpster to the curb
Filled, with life’s residual matter
Leftover stuff: corn husks, used tissues, cereal boxes
other unmentionables, revealing how we live
Life happening between trash pickups
Not a glamorous depiction, but realistic
for all consuming and disposing
Curiosity overtakes me…
I lift the green monster’s lid, exposing myself
to dreadful smells, making me wonder
what kind of life I lead
Ancient Near Eastern civilizations had their tells:
Mounds of trash and rubble, built upon
by their future societies
We have stinking landfills; some now larger
than the cities they serve
It frustrates me, we throw away so much
but at this moment, it haunts me even more
life is what happens between trash pickups
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Author: Don Iannone, D.Div.
Biography
Photographer, poet, teacher, complementary medicine provider, interfaith minister, and former economic developer. Holds a Doctorate in Divinity, Master of Divinity, Master of Mind-Body Medicine, and Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology. Clinical certifications in Reiki, guided meditation, life purpose coaching, and spiritual counseling. Author of 12 books, including two new books in the contemporary spirituality field. Learn more here.
Contact Information
Kosmos Consulting and Research website: https://www.donaldiannone.com/
Visual Advantage Photography website: http://www.visualadvantagephoto.com
Flickr Photo Page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/don-iannone
Contact Don Iannone by email: diannone@gmail.com
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Poetic Alchemist 
Shane: Thanks. Yes, so true.
thank goodness for those intermittent life breaks. 🙂
Floots: Thanks. Hope you had a fine August, and now it is near gone. Ah yes, mortality and garbage…kinda the same. eh?
Andrew: Thanks. Well, hopefully it won’t scared your son too much. I do the trash in our house. I just knew I’d get a great job in life and that’s it! 🙂
Maya: Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I have my older son do the trash here. I need to have him read this. 🙂
mortality and garbage
as aurora said this is dark and compelling
perhaps not what i need at 0400
until
i see that there is a full moon
another cycle
thank you
“I am haunted deeper by the thought
life is what happens between trash pickups”
I liked this so much! A briliant metaphor!
maya
Polona: Thanks. Well said. Life is a messy affairs.
Nasra: Thanks. In part, this poem is intended to be humorous and in part serious. It is a metaphysical poem in that it uses trash pickup as a metaphor for cleaning up our lives.
life is a messy affair…
excellent, don.
Never thoust Life and trash ..unique
Thanks Dan. Have a nice trip and getaway.
Thanks Aurora. It is a bit dark, but not too. Just occured to me that is a yardstick for life: trash and its pickup.
Good one; good final stanza!
What a compelling piece of dark poetry!