Bottom of the Barrel

[If you subscribe to this blog, you may have received an unedited version of this a few weeks back and wondered why it disappeared from the blog. Well, it appears here again, cleaned up a bit for public consumption.]

It’s all down there -
the sludge, s***,
blood, spit.
Refuse
of a
br
o
k en
life.
Broken bottles.
Broken
(ssshhhh,
the children!)
condoms.
Trust lies torn
in beer-soaked porn.
Dreams spent like
Pampers money on
losing lotto.
But we keep it hidden
away
in the back alley.
No one sees.
And no one
smells its fetid stench.
Keep the lid on
and no one
will ever be the wiser.
Except . . .
except for the
Garbage Man.
He knows.