Sun’s Already for a Break
(am I)
It’s later in the morning
Than I like to write
Pre-pre dawn is fine
But I was going through some
Things
Last night and couldn’t resist
A few more boxes first thing this
Morning—proof I don’t know how
To live
I found some old course papers
Kept a few, since I’ve discovered
Sometimes schools really want
To see such things
Kept some student work beside, because
It was good
I notice I’m breathing
A little more, now
Now I’ve had a chance to lift and sort
Keep and throw out
Pleased to have thrown out things
A few less boxes from the office
Or the office
Or the cubicle
I’m here now, and what I do is
Here for now
Well, I know
I’ll probably like the coffee
C L Couch
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
clcouch123 
February 16, 2020 at 8:26 pm
To keep or to let go. It’s a difficult choice. It sounds as though you take the question seriously. There are things worth keeping even if, like those well-written papers, nobody else is ever going to read it.
I’m married to a keeper. A hoarder, the kids call him, can’t bear to throw anything away because it might come in useful, picks up screws, bits of plastic, stones, in the road because you never know. They sit in cardboard cartons on the kitchen table, on the mantlepiece, everywhere. But of course, when he actually needs that particular screw or that odd-shaped bit of plastic, he hasn’t got a clue which box, carton, tin he put it in.
I throw stuff out.
February 16, 2020 at 9:23 pm
I’m glad you throw things out. I’m learning. I grew up with keepers, which hasn’t helped. Over the past few past few years, I’ve brought in everything from work. It’s too much. I’ve gone through my library and now have many boxes of books to go away. I’ve been tossing papers, too, though clearly not everything. I was teaching composition at a technical school and somehow got away with a poetry assignment. You’re right, no one will see this work again. But I kept a couple of sets from students. As for finding things, in my office I could find anything. Here, I can’t. Again, it speaks to clearing out.
February 16, 2020 at 9:35 pm
We threw out tons (probably literally) of things when we moved here, but we also brought a load of what I’m afraid I call rubbish and it’s filled up the barn. Old doors, window frames, baskets, ancient tools, planks pieces of furniture (in pieces or with pieces missing) pieces of metal, railings, bars, things that have no name, no function but might one day be pressed into service. I think we’ve reached the age where ‘one day’ is getting too close for comfort and if we can’t see a use for something now, it has no business being hoarded.
Books are hard to get rid of. It’s strange because they are usually things that can be replaced, but we all have difficulty parting with them.
February 17, 2020 at 1:44 pm
Ah – throwing things away and de-cluttering. I am in the process of doing that very thing myself. I tend to be a pack rat at times.
February 17, 2020 at 5:42 pm
Good luck to you! Being a teacher encouraged my keeping everything so that it might be used again. Rationalizing. Space has greater value to me, now if not then.
Thanks for commenting!