Thurs., Mar. 26

"It's going in the trash"
the threat is often said.
Assembling monstrous piles of grunge
has to the garbage led.
Disposal is dismissal,
what's tossed is no more worth
the keeping in this house for long
when space is at a dearth.
What should be thrown?
Opinions vary, and some
can only gather, and bury
their floors and shelves in tons
of hoarded notes and hunted books.
Others toss with abandon gleeful,
fearing not the loss of stacks,
but whacks the piles as they deem needful.
One to toss and one to save,
such pairings often come to grief,
while we negotiate, concede,
to seek some shared relief.
She tolerates full shelves,
and stuff that once would horrify her,
and he grimly throws out much that once
he'd reach into a fire for.
We're learning from each other still
yet have a ways to go,
in learning what is dear to each:
and it changes as we grow.