_______Tumbling Trashcans

I found this poem in my college writing portfolio.  It was a form poem that we were assigned where we had to copy the format line for line, but with our own content.  I wish I still had the assignment sheet so I could see what the form was.  For example, I can pretty much guarantee that line one was supposed to include a metaphor.  Perhaps line two was meant to include alliteration. 


For sure, I remember that halfway through the poem (at the second stanza) we were supposed to move the action to a new setting.  Thus it makes an abrupt switch from the highway where I nearly crashed into a tumbling trashcan to the dorms where I was living.


Also, line 21 is in Greek and I remember clearly that the instructions were to include a foreign language in that line.  It is the Greek word Ichthys which means fish and refers to the Christian symbol for Jesus Christ.  The word Ichthys was used by early Christians as an acrostic, a word formed from the first letters of several words. It compiles to "Jesus Christ, God's son, savior," in ancient Greek.  (Wikipedia)


Finally, in the last line we were instructed to bring the poem back to the beginning.  Considering that it was a form poem, I was really pleased with how it turned out.







Tumbling Trashcans


Driving last night was a tumbling trashcan.
It tried to tumble me.
The trashcan wobbling in the back of the truck.
Cold sweat of the driver behind it.
The thud of the trashcan on the highway.
Burnt aroma of breaking tires.
Tasting the nearness of death.
It tasted like the numbness of silence.
I wished I hadn't left Lindsay to go back home to Remington Road.
I was headed back to the dorm on Remington Road.


In the dorm, the rooms beat different beats.
The walls echo with giggles and squeals.
They can't be silent because they're students.
"Are you going out tonight?"
They are as excited as a hangover.
Then they throb through the air to the boys at the frat house.


On Friday nights Meg goes out with her friends.
But they won't end up with a headache.
As giant children they laugh their way through the night.
They have all that they need.
ΙΧΘΥΣ, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.


Meanwhile, the beer bottles kiss their goodnights.
And the girls totter home like tumbling trashcans.