Sunday, March 7, 2010

Semi-theatrical Matter


















Story Line- A Girl, Her Van, The Dumpster, Riddled With Emotion

Every time I haul a bag of garbage to the trash bin the guilt is bigger than me. Picking my body up, dropping it over with the thump of the glass bottles weighing it down. Flinging a life into the abyss of endless waste, once
priceless- maybe, just maybe as these thoughts are rolling in the smelly matter, a better sense of 'waste not, want not' would cling; follow me around, reminding me each time I buy something, to be more mindful of what and where it will end up.

Scene- Van parked next to a snowy dumpster
Actor- Southern Girl in cold north east

Things sit on the floor were useful, once-
Now they symbolize childlike pranks,

embarrassment, brief moments of fun
when simple "No Thank You" would suffice.

Act I:

Mindless exchange of words, frozen acceptance
eye contact commitment, street peddler corners

Guilt laced afterthoughts- blindness, blank
face refusal, keep walking attitudes

unneeded items pile up, hoarders convention,
storage fees lost, all for free entertainment.

Act II:

Crap lay in state, taking its chance with spilled
liquids, stale french fry grease marks

imprinted sneaker soles, dirty snow
stains on an already cold van floor

Act III:

Today's trash bin company, city dump
workers treasures- meaningless

gifts from strangers, and a repeat performance.

5 comments:

Just telling it like it is said...

Oh how though art smart!

Rachel Cotterill said...

Fun way of playing with the Acts. Love it when people do fun things with structure.

One of my poet-blog-friends wrote a set of camera directions in poetry... it was pure magic, I'll see if I can find you the link because you would love it.

farmlady said...

This is like a three act epiphany of thought. Cool!
I just love what you do with words.

Jessie Carty said...

can i tell you how excited i am that we are going to be getting full sized recycling bins soon? :)

Bryan Borland said...

"Every time I haul a bag of garbage to the trash bin the guilt is bigger than me" - this is exactly how I felt cleaning out my father's house over the weekend - throwing away things that I never would have thrown away otherwise. I know you're writing from a different place, but I marvel at the way you've articulated my own thoughts with this line!