things re-discovered while cleaning the house
letter, 1945: soldier hopes the war is over by christmas
yet at his best estimate, it won’t be over until far into 1946.
graded homework, early 2010s: at some point I complained it was fifth grade math
as if that meant it was the most difficult to endure.
cookbook, 1990: advertises healthful living, healthful meals,
like the spaghetti next to pictures of people working out, saying they eat low-fat.
wasp, deceased, c. 2023: none of us know exactly how long it’s been lying on the floor,
neglected, nightmarish ever since one of its kind inflicted injury in that very room.
6 thoughts on "things re-discovered while cleaning the house"
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Love the progression of this poem. Despite the random entries on the list, the wasp was still a delightful surprise and a great way to end the poem!
In a way this feels like these could also be four short poems. I do like your idea of focusing on objects and entering musings or information as a means of investigation. I agree that the wasp entry also caught my attention. I like that these are discoveries too. Thanks for your poem!
Loving the themes!
Cool ida for a poem. Such a great structure, too.
*idea
The first line could apply to my dad. Nice montage of what could have been unrelated discoveries that basically describe the many facets of one’s life.