The Dumpster
by William Doreski
It lolls behind a storage shed like something heaved up on a beach. Its green enamel looks bulletproof. Once a week a huge truck backs up to it, prongs and lifts it overhead, dropping the contents into the truck's great maw. I've wanted to learn its secrets. Who dumps what into it, where does the refuse go, what does it feel like to mediate the world as trash?
Tonight I confront it. As I approach across the gravel driveway the neighbor's radio groans, coughing up disco from the Seventies. A couple of teenagers rustle in the grass. Her clothes are coming off and she's sighing and sighing. The boy's too excited. He's hurrying her. I want to tell him, don't hurry, prolong the moment you'll remember all your life; but if they knew I was here they'd shy away, probably run.The dumpster looms like the tomb of Augustus, and probably contains almost as much trash. When I touch the cold metal it groans and says, "Speak. What do you want to know?'
"Name your treasures," I respond.
"Paper waste, expired vegetables, empty paint cans, wine bottles, beer and soda cans, dead light bulbs, and a parakeet that died of old age."
The lid bangs. A shadow rises from the stink and muddle. "Are you somebody I should know?" I ask. The shadow doesn't respond but drapes itself over the side of the dumpster and dies there, emitting the faintest, palest sob. Should I call for help? Sensing my indecision, the dumpster commands me: "Climb aboard, pull the lid over you before the rain begins."
Who or what would I be replacing? The sky looks uncertain, but no stars show, and I suspect the dumpster's forecast is accurate. Rather than risk getting wet, I vault into the filthy dark and clang the lid down. Lying in a slush of plastic trash bags, I begin my self-digestion. The dumpster will tell me when I've finished.
William Doreski teaches at Keene State College in New Hampshire. His latest collection of poetry is Waiting for the Angel (2009). He has published three critical studies, including Robert Lowell's Shifting Colors. His essays, poetry, and reviews have appeared in many journals, including Massachusetts Review, Notre Dame Review, The Alembic, New England Quarterly, Harvard Review, Modern Philology, Antioch Review, Natural Bridge.