Exposed

2004 Slam SemiFinals Topic: write a poem in which you explore the contents of a bag. The poem should have a subtext of self-analysis, or of character analysis if you're not writing in first person.

Free verse, no line limit.

Exposed

My garbage dropped,
the bag just split,
displaying parts of my life.

Some neighbors passed
with a curious toddler
and a sniffing, eager hound.

It split, that rift, exposing me,
a box of light-brown dye,
a toothbrush of mashed-in bristles,

the coffee grounds a la Starbucks,
the broccoli I never cooked,
the lettuce all brown and soggy.

A bag of potatoes had grown
long, brown spidered legs,
with a smell horribly rancid.

An empty candy wrapper
lay on the sidewalk naked,
the evidence of my guilt.

My bag, it split.
The neighbors looked,
saw hidden pieces of me.

I shredded my mail,
ripped off my labels,
but still they peered inside.

The bag just split,
and there I was
for all the neighbors to see.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~