Ode to Refuse
the streetside garbage cans so different now
unlike the back yard incinerator of my Hoosier youth
Daddy and I burned trash at the edge of our acre
sparks crackling flames erupting
under a warm dark sky illuminated with stars
Mother watching from the kitchen window
dogs howl yet I feel safe gazing up
witnessing the mystical forces at play
five decades later in Berkeley motion sensor
lights accompany me down twenty stairs through
damp grass to bins at the edge of a wrought iron fence
meant to keep out nighttime wanderers seeking
a fix
a handout
an ear for their angry rants
I empty the paper waste sort recyclables toss the garbage
return to the climb jump when a car screeches by
I look up take in the sky glowing stars beckon me
to remember the stunning mystery unfolding
Walking in Salem, Oregon as a California Native
Debating Oregon vs Cali as Our Final Home
morning sidewalks green with moss
yards border two-foot stone retaining wall
short lawns trimmed defined no nonsense
no mixing of flowers each isolated
in bark mulch ring day lily|black-eyed susan
gladiolas|flowering current
red Japanese maple solitary its cascade growth
clipped to dense cone restricted
I finger the packet of California wildflower seeds in my pocket
want to toss and sow a jumble of sky lupine yarrow
Indian paintbrush redwood sorrel poppies
yard by yard
yard by yard
Indian paintbrush redwood sorrel poppies
I consider the urge to toss and sow a jumble of sky lupine yarrow
finger the packet of California wildflower seeds in my pocket
eye a solitary red Japanese maple dense cone
its cascade growth restricted
gladiolas|flowering current no overlap
in bark mulch ring day lily|black-eyed susan
no mixing flowers each isolated
short lawns trimmed defined no nonsense
yards border with two-foot stone retaining walls
morning sidewalks slippery with moss
Ellen Gerneaux Woods is a poet living in Richmond, CA, and the author of The Watchful Heart Recedes (2021, Finishing Line Press). Her work appears in numerous literary magazines, most recently in Discretionary Love, Book of Matches, Blood and Thunder. When not writing she loves to swim at The Richmond Plunge, a historic indoor pool with a mural by John Wehrle gracing the entire west wall.
the streetside garbage cans so different now
unlike the back yard incinerator of my Hoosier youth
Daddy and I burned trash at the edge of our acre
sparks crackling flames erupting
under a warm dark sky illuminated with stars
Mother watching from the kitchen window
dogs howl yet I feel safe gazing up
witnessing the mystical forces at play
five decades later in Berkeley motion sensor
lights accompany me down twenty stairs through
damp grass to bins at the edge of a wrought iron fence
meant to keep out nighttime wanderers seeking
a fix
a handout
an ear for their angry rants
I empty the paper waste sort recyclables toss the garbage
return to the climb jump when a car screeches by
I look up take in the sky glowing stars beckon me
to remember the stunning mystery unfolding
Walking in Salem, Oregon as a California Native
Debating Oregon vs Cali as Our Final Home
morning sidewalks green with moss
yards border two-foot stone retaining wall
short lawns trimmed defined no nonsense
no mixing of flowers each isolated
in bark mulch ring day lily|black-eyed susan
gladiolas|flowering current
red Japanese maple solitary its cascade growth
clipped to dense cone restricted
I finger the packet of California wildflower seeds in my pocket
want to toss and sow a jumble of sky lupine yarrow
Indian paintbrush redwood sorrel poppies
yard by yard
yard by yard
Indian paintbrush redwood sorrel poppies
I consider the urge to toss and sow a jumble of sky lupine yarrow
finger the packet of California wildflower seeds in my pocket
eye a solitary red Japanese maple dense cone
its cascade growth restricted
gladiolas|flowering current no overlap
in bark mulch ring day lily|black-eyed susan
no mixing flowers each isolated
short lawns trimmed defined no nonsense
yards border with two-foot stone retaining walls
morning sidewalks slippery with moss
Ellen Gerneaux Woods is a poet living in Richmond, CA, and the author of The Watchful Heart Recedes (2021, Finishing Line Press). Her work appears in numerous literary magazines, most recently in Discretionary Love, Book of Matches, Blood and Thunder. When not writing she loves to swim at The Richmond Plunge, a historic indoor pool with a mural by John Wehrle gracing the entire west wall.
