The ephemeral stream beside
my house holds treasures.

It’s rocky bed lined with generations of
junk woven between rocks and roots

🎶Take it out back and dump it in the river🎶

Spring rains reveal buttons, springs,
hubcaps, handles, and shards of old dishes

🎶Take it out back and throw it in the woods🎶

washed down from the old smokehouse or
unburied from the banks where it was cast

forgotten for ages as moss covered stones
and trees grew tall around the edges.

🎶Take it out back and chuck it down the hillside🎶

One time, my kids uncovered an entire
Pyrex casserole dish intact while digging

for gold along the stream path as
part of some game.

🎶Keep the front yard looking good🎶

They gifted it to me, I bleached it
clean and still use it to make cobblers.

🎶Lyrics from “Take It Out Back” by Chuck Brodsky