Sunday, January 13, 2008

Keep/Give Away/Not Sure: A decluttering ritual

I wrote this today-thinking that many parents and couples are probably going through this after the holidays---this is for them.

KEEP /GIVE AWAY/ NOT SURE
A Decluttering Ritual

This new year ritual spans
More than one sunny-rainy-gray
than sunny, bright again afternoon to
Sort through receipts
count the money we wish we had
And mourn the reserve we shouldn’t have spent

Days past the epiphany
We wrestle with
What to keep, give away,
Which to donate
Which to sell

There in the middle of the room
stands the green plastic box labeled NOT SURE

Along with
The hook and eye
of an old pair of favorite
unflattering khaki pants that
Hang on like a bare thread
The steardy storage container holds
recycled arguments between us
Spilling, unraveling out
Words-NOT SURE- are taped on and written in black ink
Can it be repaired?….

De-cluttering demands brutal honesty…
My karmic cleaning partner for life says-
What's the worst thing that would happen if you got rid of it?
Is it beautiful, useful, or loved?

My back responds first in silence,
Tears come after
I turn
He moves to meet me
His forehead rests on mine
We return to this frustrating place
ugh-again, again, again-
but until we finally accept the lesson

To each other this ritual of recycling must be re-found to be
Beautiful, useful, and (re)loved.

3 comments:

Mama JuJu said...

Hi!
I'm Juliette, a mom from St. Louis, MO and I found your poem when I was searching for material to use at an upcoming Unitarian-Universalist women's retreat. I'm in charge of the Sunday service/ritual and one section of that is on the topic of simplicity. I think your poem would be beautiful to read aloud, but I would really like to be able to credit you personally and your full name wasn't on the blog (which I totally understand for privacy reasons!). If you would rather remain anonymous, I could just credit your blog, but I would love to give you the personal credit.
I don't have a blog, so I'm not sure how this message will work and if my email will be attached to it, but if it isn't feel free to email me at: jrcronewillis@gmail.com

Thanks for writing the piece--it really got to the heart of what I am trying to communicate.

Unknown said...

Hi Grace--

I knew you at Mount Holyoke. I like your blogs--I found your link on another blog.

Hope you're well--come stop by my blog sometime.

All best,
Grace

Shreyas said...

Thanks for this great post - I will be sure to check out your blog more often

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