Discarded Items
Years and years he collected other
people’s discarded stuff, undoubtedly
useless to them although perhaps
useful to someone else, time and
again, he has pondered on this, Thomas,
the retired garbage collector, who
hasn’t heard any news from his son
for the last three years and he knows
one day he won’t be able to care
for himself anymore, when that day
arrives, as it always does, they will
discard him in the big bin along with
the garbage of the old folks’ home
which has been his home now, just
to be collected by the lonely and
the dedicated mega garbage collector
the Almighty Thanatos with his big sickle
the unerring cleaner of our fair earth
old Thomas too did as he was told, he too
followed the societal rules, he too
led the life of the donkey, with his
short rope tied to a stick in the ground
he too never found the strength to
stand up and throw a pebble
to dare disturb the calm lake waters.
Manolis Aligizakis 