A Connoisseur of Fine Trash
My friend Charles died
with empty pockets
and an odd smile
with a collector’s hope
of a prosperous eternity.
He held onto random things
he saved from fire sales
and factory closeouts;
stowed away for safekeeping
in a storage bin with all his misfired plans.
He slept in a late model Ford
after his wife changed the locks
on the front door.
He packed his car with memories
that reminded him of her.
He wanted to hold on to his wife,
tuck her away with the rest
of his belongings, but her lawyer
told him to stop trying to harbor
what’s already lost and gone.
So he stood by as the woman
who once stole his heart
and cooked his tenderloin just right,
ran off with the neighborhood butcher.
My friend left a hoarder’s legacy,
a connoisseur of fine trash.
While his ex-wife feasted on prime rib,
And an afterlife of ground chuck.
Mark Tulin is a retired mental health therapist from Philadelphia, currently living in California. Mark authored Magical Yogis, Awkward Grace, The Asthmatic Kid and Other Stories, Junkyard Souls, and Rain on Cabrillo. He’s featured in Redemption, The Hatchet, Still Point Journal, The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Amethyst Review, Vita Brevis Press, White Enso, Still Point Journal, and other publications. He is a Pushcart nominee and a Best of Drabble. Visit Mark’s website at www.crowonthewire.com.
My friend Charles died
with empty pockets
and an odd smile
with a collector’s hope
of a prosperous eternity.
He held onto random things
he saved from fire sales
and factory closeouts;
stowed away for safekeeping
in a storage bin with all his misfired plans.
He slept in a late model Ford
after his wife changed the locks
on the front door.
He packed his car with memories
that reminded him of her.
He wanted to hold on to his wife,
tuck her away with the rest
of his belongings, but her lawyer
told him to stop trying to harbor
what’s already lost and gone.
So he stood by as the woman
who once stole his heart
and cooked his tenderloin just right,
ran off with the neighborhood butcher.
My friend left a hoarder’s legacy,
a connoisseur of fine trash.
While his ex-wife feasted on prime rib,
And an afterlife of ground chuck.
Mark Tulin is a retired mental health therapist from Philadelphia, currently living in California. Mark authored Magical Yogis, Awkward Grace, The Asthmatic Kid and Other Stories, Junkyard Souls, and Rain on Cabrillo. He’s featured in Redemption, The Hatchet, Still Point Journal, The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Amethyst Review, Vita Brevis Press, White Enso, Still Point Journal, and other publications. He is a Pushcart nominee and a Best of Drabble. Visit Mark’s website at www.crowonthewire.com.
