Things Discarded, An Incomplete List

What’s discarded callously and without thought?

A dried banana peel,

The fruit was soft and brown.

The avocado I let turn,

shipped from Mexico,

tender and forgotten.

Three crumpled receipts memorializing transactions long past.

A vain attempt at exchanging cold hard currency for the high of momentary happiness.

Did the dopamine kick in?

Did my skin crawl?

Did my heart thunder?

Did it wet my cracked lips?

Did I feel the high?

Did I overdose on unbridled capitalism?

(I sure am jonesing for more).

The sweet euphoria of the Big Mac,

shot straight into my bloodstream.

The feeling of invincibility that comes with snorted phone chargers

and inhaled streaming services.

But the comedown never stays away for long.

(and, man, is it a mother fucker).

Aluminum cans that don't belong,

a testament to my own profound lethargy.

A steadfast refusal to drop them into the blue container.

Where they can sit until sorted in with the rest of the trash.

By someone else, away from my guilty eye.

A small consolation,

so we can all forget,

if just for a moment.

(our own part in first degree matricide).

An old shoe, made to fall apart six months too soon,

by the delicate hands of a foreign child.

Six AA batteries, leaking their corrosive blood directly into the water supply.

Old Christmas Cards, adorned with the smiling faces of my most despised loved ones.

Finally relieved,

from their vigil on my fridge.

Where their vacant eyes could personally remind me,

Of every slight,

of every tear and sob

of every bad memory

each and every time I went for leftover pizza.

Can’t beat that for convenience.

(personalized misery, delivered straight to your door).

One last slice of that pizza,

delivered in under 30 minutes,

hard as stone

and perhaps just a little bit moldy.

An empty bag of Lays,

the salt still caked to my greasy palms.

A monument to my ever increasing blood pressure.

Hand grenades packed neatly into my flesh,

set to explode in an orgy of heart disease and stroke.

(hey, we all gotta go somehow).

Unopened mail:

I am preselected

prequalified

and preapproved,

for the unique opportunity

to spend spend spend.

If i’m not happy buy and buy more.

And if i’m still not happy then don’t let the terrorists win and keep spending.

And if that still doesn’t work then just pretend

And keep on spending.

(must be something wrong with me, try liquor and a pill or six).

Keep adding to the things I discard

Keep unfeeling my feelings

Keep unthinking my thoughts.

And keep unliving life.