for what its worth
Is a perfect chore for a boy.
It was my primary job as a kid,
I was told to wash my hands afterward.
No time was set to take out trash, just when it got full,
easy to anticipate, it did not require practice.
I took the kitchen trash to the cans outside,
on Thursday I took the cans to the curb.
Once, while taking out trash
I heard the neighbor smacking his wife,
heard the yelling before, the tears after,
and I saw the cops come to take him out in cuffs,
him the trash. The cops wore black gloves.
Taking out trash was a military duty,
one I shared with four other grunts
from cities and farms, and towns like mine
where they took out the trash as boys.
We wore gloves, we strong young men,
but we still washed our hands afterward.
Once I hauled a trash-drunk trooper,
puking and begging, to a cold barracks shower
to sober his eyes, and steady his will
and I hauled him to roll call on time
at attention, and I covered his ass all day.
But he never did me a favor, never even said thanks.
I hauled that trash only once.
I have hauled truckloads of waste to be heaped
on gurgling mounds of decay and rot
and I once picked up just a single piece of trash,
a simple leaf of paper in the most remote of places,
a small island in the north sea,
and I wondered what force of design
connected it to me, and to that moment.
For nearly half a century I have taken out the trash,
I still take it out to this day.
I never passed this chore down to my children,
they are girls, not meant to take out trash.
Woman’s work is more complex,
it requires emotional strength to believe
to feel, to memorize, to memorialize.
Woman’s work requires physical strength,
to birth babies, to bind families,
a strength that ten men can not muster.
Taking out trash requires little of strength,
just a stomach for strong smells.
Putting the trash in its place can be messy
but all trash must be put in a place.
A man’s job is to put it there and forget.
Taking out the trash is men’s work.
|
Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 6th March 2007 |
Oh boy.
I really enjoyed this poem -- the way you follow the chore of trash, the different connotations of trash, from the simple thing you had to do as a kid through the various experiences you've had in life. This is well expressed and I personally think it is fine as a prose-poem or whatever this might be called. Your second stanza -- the neighbor being hauled off by the police -- is poignant, as is so much of this. I would have liked to know a bit more about that single piece of paper -- I can guess, but I'd rather you told me, or gave me just a slightly better hint.
As a girl, the trash was my chore, and it has largely been my chore as a wife and mother. I've had my hands in more junk than you could possibly imagine; some day I too will write about this. So, why is it that I alone in this household, am responsible for the trash? I do the compost bin, the main trash, the recycling -- the whole nine yards. Goddammit, I knew I should have had boys. |
Written by Kathy (220 comments posted) 6th March 2007 |
The way that you connect thoughts in all your pieces is quite marvellous to me... I really liked all of the connections that you made. Have you been working on a full length book or have you already done one? I would be interested to read it.
I understood your sentiments in describing how 'women's work' would involve tasks that required different layers of strength, but can hear some of them complain about you saying anything about what is or isn't their work! Brave man!
Yours appreciatively
Kathy |
Written by Phil (6836 comments posted) 6th March 2007 |
Interesting piece. I agree with much of what Witzl said but this doesn't have the high quality of your last piece. I think it may be because this lacks any rhythm or pulse. (at least for me)
Nonetheless, I enjoyed it. A very worthwhile read.
Phil. |
Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3445 comments posted) 6th March 2007 |
I have no idea whether this is poetry or not and I don't really care. I thought it was wonderful. Using a down to earth thing like taking out trash to hightlight life's journey and so well handled.
It reminded me of the sort of songs Bruce Springsteen writes. This is a working mans lament with the perfect metaphor. His hands might be in the shit but his head is in the clouds
Excellent
J
P.S I liked your brother's mixed axiom "like a cow pissing on a flat rock" reminded me of a Canadian friend who says stuff like "He looked like 2 miles of rough road"
Get as may as you can from your brother and make a poem out of them. I think it would be great.They are so vivid and folksy and funny. I love stuff like that.
|
Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 6th March 2007 |
I'd have called this prose but as Jane says, I don't much care. I liked the trash metaphor and thought the 'woman's work' business very delicately handled! I'd almost like to see this written as prose but (imagine a big shrug) I like it anyway as is.
Elli |
HI Bwoz
Written by jean.day (2326 comments posted) 7th March 2007 |
| I really enjoyed this poem. I echo all the things the others have said. My husband takes out the trash too - and I am very happy for him to have the job. When I do it somehow the plastic bag always splits and rubbish spreads all over the area. |
Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 7th March 2007 |
I've tried that trick, Jean. The spilt trash stayed there for a good week. I can't blame the others: I'm not sure they even registered it. It's like that movie where the little boy can see dead people but no one else can -- in this family, I'm that little boy and the trash is the dead people.
Came back to this because I liked it so much -- especially that part about women's work. That alone would've gotten my vote. |
Interesting
Written by Talisker (1328 comments posted) 7th March 2007 |
But not poetry for me - nor particularly insightful or rewarding to read.
My wife takes the trash out, so I can't agree that its a man job. The trash metaphor is used all the time these days "white trash", "trailer trash", "trash fiction" and errrr "trash poetry" -so its completely unoriginal.
Just not for me. Might have been a readable piece of short prose, but even then, no elegance, no finesse, no real class - just a bunch of words.
Sorry,
Oli  |
Well received...
Written by bwoz (125 comments posted) 7th March 2007 |
Other than Oli's labeling it "trash poetry" I do appreciate that everyone else saw the meaning and intent.
Sorry that Oli doesn't take out the trash -- because it really is Man's work -- if you understand what the poem is about.
I don't know about it not being original -- I have read many poems over many years and do not recall ever reading a poem about taking out the trash, which of course is a metaphor on many levels, as Oli stated.
The fact that none of the cliches Oli mentions are included in this poem would also lend reason that it is a pretty original piece of writing -- whether is suits everyone's tast or not.
Oh, and about that single piece of paper -- that is the flip side of the trash metaphor. A clean piece of paper all alone in that remote place -- it still connected me to the life I've live (i.e. the trash I've hauled).
I appreciate all the good comments.
BW |
Only registered users can rate and write comments.
Please login or register.
Previous item
