Nothing Worth Keeping
Five years after our dissolution,
(Isn’t that an odd word for the solution
that ended our original solution
of lifelong companionship?)
I found a box of papers
I had not troubled to sort.
Nothing of consequence in a summons for jury duty.
Nothing of importance in a nine-year old tax return.
Nothing of significance in a lab report.
Nothing done in a To Do list.
Nothing of merit in a receipt for an oil and lube.
Nothing to write home about in a love poem.
Nothing left to buy in a grocery list.
Nothing of good taste in an ad for home décor.
Nothing of value in a quit claim deed.
Nothing to our credit in a bank statement.
Nothing about a bad connection in a cable bill.
Nothing to show for an expired warranty.
Nothing in the eyes of two people posing
for a vacation photo that hinted at the final solution.
Nothing that lasts forever.
Nothing.
The prompt for NaPoWriMo.net Day 16 is “to write a poem that uses the form of a list to defamiliarize the mundane.”
rivrvlogr 
Probably a truer “story” than a romance novel?
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A little housecleaning never hurt anyone. 😉
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Extremely clever! I like it!
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🙂
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Oh, you did this so well, Ken! Most people have some sort of similar box of papers/memories.
I’ll probably be off-prompt today.
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Thank you, Merril. I thought a prompt that most people try to put off might work for this.
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This is very well done!
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Thank you!
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You are welcome!
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An emotional cleansing. Those little things that hang around on the edges. (K)
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Sometimes the past is the past. Sometimes it’s clutter
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Too often we can’t tell the difference.
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Liked the way you wove the emotions and words together in this list.
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Thank you.
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I especially liked “Nothing done in a To Do List.” Nice development of your concept.
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Thank you. I thought I was done, when that popped into my head.
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Fascinating list of the mundane tinged with former (temporary) value – things important when current. (On the flip side, there are many things I’ve tossed only to wish for later.) In spite of the individual items having nothing to justify keeping, the collection does make for an easy-to-identify-with reflection on relative significance. Put this poem in a safe place!
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Thanks!
Into the box with the rest? 😉
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Relating to this (many years ago).
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Far enough in the past that I can smile.
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Me too. 🙂
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