Returning To Be Recycled by Michelle AngeliniReturning To Be Recycled
She uses morning coffee grounds
and egg shells from breakfast with grits
to fertilize indoor and outdoor plants
Coffee comes from the earth
Eggs from chickens who feed on it
Products from recycling
go to operations becoming shoe laces
or other goods made from
cans, P.E.T bottles, and glass
Consumers buy them to save the earth
when they don’t buy virgin products
Much of the merchandise she uses
coffee filters
magazines
plastic bags
newspapers
envelopes
return to be recycled
then reborn
Her environmental footprint
may not be zero
nevertheless she has reduced it
from many years ago when no one
thought about ecological concerns
as they do today
She’s even a recycled individual
a new person when she wakes up each day
a new person who recycled herself from drinking
a new person who renounced her body from drugs
a new person who revived her mind from alcohol
a new person who is more present in God than in the world
She knows what she sees in her apartment
and in her surroundings comes from the earth
It’s only innate that the items be placed in the blue bins
returned to Mother Earth to feed her green children
or be used by humans to for another use
She also knows the molecules in water that once
cleansed Cleopatra in her bath may can be present
in the two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen
used to make morning coffee in the 21st century
05/11/2011 Author's Note: Ok, this has been on my mind for awhile. I finally decided to write this today as I'm doing more massive loads of laundry and battling a bug problem. Ugh! This is probably not the right file to put it in, so when I feel like it, I'll have to create a new one.
Posted on 05/11/2011 Copyright © 2025 Michelle Angelini
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Steve Michaels on 05/27/15 at 04:37 PM Congrats on POTD! |
Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 05/27/15 at 07:33 PM There is so much cycling and recycling of life here - the "a new person" stanza is a strong testament to what can be changed or used differently. Compelling write, Chelle. Thanks and congrats on POTD! |
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