My Compost Bin
Compost? Lowliest of all earth: Human refuse and waste, Leftovers and scraps. The unwanted, the unused, The disgusting and the dying. Fuzzy and molding. All forgotten A stinking pile of mess and chaos Decaying Shreds of last year’s bills, Cardboard moving boxes, A tax ID, some newspaper clippings (warnings in the 80s of a freezing globe; in the 2000s, warnings of a burning one), Grandpa’s high school graduation program, Wartime paraphernalia, Cousin Ruthmary’s missionary newsletters Of days spent in the wilds of Peru (rainforests now rapidly disappearing). Shreds of yellowing insurance deeds, Edges scrolled with elaborate design, Flamboyant signatures dwarfing the page. Letters from a now-dead world, More and more lost to us With the passing of each alzheimed and dementiad elder. Their memories die with them. Fumes of dusty, moldy, musty paper. Yesterday’s egg shells. The innards of Thanksgiving squash. Christmas dinner’s tough asparagus ...