Dirty dish archeology
Six ceramic mugs and a whisk
All brown with cocoa after the first snow
Freezing fingers curled ’round the afternoon
Bowls and peeled back plastic wrap
Reveal three different depleted leftovers
All ground-beef based, like the budget
The recycle bin full of empties
Milk jugs to be precise – two in two days
Growing bones long and strong
Two coffee cups infuse energy in the morning
Two wine glasses wind down
Both hard to resist, their narrow mouths resist scrubbing
Eight plastic divided plates
Four from lunch, four from dinner
Full and growing, tucked in their beds
Artifacts of love