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| Painting: Trudy Babchak. |
Goodwill Donation Pick Up
I’ve stuffed, this day, into three tallish bags,
Small reminders of what comes and goes,
Outmoded sleeves, decaying styles, frayed events--
Huddled as one, they wait for pick up at my door.
It just goes to show the even flow of things:
I trim; and Goodwill leaves three more.
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| Painting: Trudy Babchak. |
Can’t our days give us any more
Than this constant shedding of skin, tied in bags
And affirming the immutable ordering of things
When we divest “down” to others?—Is that how it goes
As the driver comes to our white, three-paneled wooden door
To pick up our cast-offs and we deem it a “good will event”?
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| Painting: Trudy Babchak. |
What was the date of your last charitable event
And when you gave to others with less, did you feel more?
And when those Trick or Treaters come to your door
Do you give them candy and gum in little plastic bags?
For me, anyway, give and take is very much like comes and goes,
Like, you know, vis a vis, the immutable ordering of things.
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| Painting: Trudy Babchak. |
Maybe tell me--do you think about these things
Or do they only arise at a fund-raising event?
Yes? Oh well, in a way that’s how it goes
But I had always hoped for more
Than love and such, stuffed in three tall bags
And set out for Goodwill—and shut my door!
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| Painting: Trudy Babchak. |
And isn’t the mouth kind of like a door
Taking it all in, and then speaking of things
Both joyful and painful; I see side-by-side bags
Holding promises and dreams, those hoped-for events
Such as a series of peaceful days and loving things
But not ever getting them, and is that how it goes?
The Good Humor truck still comes and goes;
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| Painting: Trudy Babchak. |
Years ago, my brother, Scott, ran out the door
To see what frozen joy it held--and more!
Now, the Good Will truck links me to those better things
As time makes obsolete both clothes and past events,
Pushing all into three tall yellow bags.
What comes ultimately goes. Think of them as--you know—things.
You can choose a charity event or Goodwill truck at the door!
But don’t you want more out of life than three tall bags?
Kay Weeks on 2.5.12 and revised 2.7.12
In Glendale, CA in the 1940s, the GoodWill truck would leave bags for the next pick up...if you put out three bags of clothes, you got three new empty bags...something like that. Thus, the reference to the three...not symbolic, but embedded in fact. With appreciation to Melody Gough, whose clear and sensitive readings and comments always improve my poetry!
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| Painting: Trudy Babchak. |
Kay Weeks on 2.5.12
Clock: web capture
Art: Trudy Babchak
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