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Francie Lynch May 2018
Pop bottles. Boxes of them.
The old man brought them home.
He collected them on the construction site, between lifts.
Sometimes it would be days between lifts,
So he filled time collecting bottles.
Hires, Fanta, Tab, Fresca, 7 Up, Mountain Dew,
Canada Dry
...
Emptied by men, like him, from all over.
What conversations did he have with them
When he picked up the empties.
Did he indulge? He'd have liked Vernors.
Pop bottles were as good as gold.
Large bottles, a nickel: Small, two cents.
He kept us busy, weeding, straightening nails, digging, mixing cement, building fences, painting them, and the house;
Root cellars, garages, additions;
In fair, wet, or hot conditions.
Winter had it's own cuffs.

We'd cash in the bottles at Walker Bros.
Every Sunday he'd leave for weeks,
Up North, to places like Kapuskasing and Hearst.
He must've been thinking about us up there,
Collecting our bottles,
In fair, wet, or hot conditions.
In Canada we call soda, pop, not soda pop.
Maxine Rhue T Nov 2013
2am
2:00am
I cannot fall alseep
My lips are dry
I've came once
unsatisfying

3:27am
I've had half a glass of vernors
The rest is sitting next to my bed warm and flat
I can't get comfortable
I have too much room in this bed
It makse me feel vulnerable

4:18am
I went to the bathroom
When I got there i didn't have  to go anymore
I went back to my room
Only to have to go back again.

4:30am
I can hear my mom coughing
She hasn't been feeling  well lately

4:37 am
I can't stop thinking about how she cried today
Or is it yesterday
I guess the next day doesn't start until you sleep

4:39am
I made her cry
Im trying  to remember what you said
About it not being my fault
I struggled with it

5:30am
Another unsatisfying ******
Viewed some ****
It wasn't what I needed
I closed my eyes for awhile
That was unsatisfying too

6:47am
I try thinking about why you stay
Or why you'd think I'd leave
Why you claim to love my body
claim to love all of me

7:15am
I Sent you a silly text.
You haven't replied yet
I feel stupid

7:38am
I logged into Facebook
Updated information
Looked though all your pictures
You don't look how I remember you in these
I don't like it
We don't interact enough here
Your ex is all over your page though
I should log out

8:03am
I hope you mean it when you say I'm better than the rest
A better cook
A better friend
A better support system
Better for you
© Maxine Rhue T  2013

— The End —