Poem of the Week: I Pick Your Trash, John Leonard, Now That You're Gone'

Each week, Upper Moreland-Willow Grove Patch is happy to present poems selected by the members of the , as well as poems from the residents of the Upper Moreland area.

This week's poem:

I Pick Your Trash, John Leonard, Now That You're Gone

By Ruth Z. Deming 

At first they put out

the commode

seat up

to let it sink in.

It sat on the grass

a week,

kids passed by

what would they know of

your rosebushes out front,

or the hospice nurse

green Dodge

parked in the drive

or about you, John Leonard,

ninety-five and shuffling to

your garden out back 

in house slippers and morphine.

On garbage night

the invisble hand

brought out some broken rakes

and tumbledown shelves,

your wife’s perfume bottles

lying in a bruised Rubbermaid container

I let them lie

Seeking perfection.

After your hip went last spring

You took me hobbling

Through your backyard.

Where did you learn to garden like that?

Lilyponds with real frogs

birdhouses nailed to the pines

tarps on benches to keep them dry.

Yesterday they put out a rototiller.

I took it at dusk

felt the length of the wood

for splinters or other irregularities

felt the rusty blades with my thumb

tiny twirling blades

then tamped it on the sidewalk

out fell the autumn leaves

from the previous fall

not this one,

for you were no longer

protector of your lawn.

I rolled it

On the sidewalk

Your roses blooming behind me,

Hefted it over my head

Victorious at last

Then stabbed it bloodless

In the palm of my hand.

---

In the author's words:

"I've written hundreds of poems. I'm incapable of throwing any of them away, even the bad ones. When I founded our Coffee Shop Writer's Group about seven years ago, which now meets at Weinrich's Bakery, 55 Easton Road, Willow Grove, I wanted to bring poets and writers together in the area. We make use of a 'writer's deadline,' which ensures we'll all have something new to present every month. I suffered from bipolar disorder for about 17 years, though the illness has vanished. Many people with bipolar are very creative, and I encourage them to write poetry like I do. One award-winning poet, Franz Wright, said that poetry cured his bipolar disorder. Try it! I'm also an insatiable blogger. See www.RuthZDeming.blogspot.com."