When the smell got too bad
they just bust through
the double locked apartment door
and discovered her.
There were no pets
to feast on her remains
but maybe some flies and maggots
were able to find some sustenance.
I didn’t get in there
until I started seeing her property
laid out by the curb.

Upstairs were the workers
who her grandkids had hired
to clear out the stuff.
Halfway done
there was still a lot of it:
canned goods
dry goods
a couple of VCRs (still boxed)
newspapers and magazines
dating back a decade
scrapbooks of snipped articles
and sometimes flyers…
A garbage bag
full of trophies just about to spill
was almost ready
about to be dropped on the sidewalk.

The three women cleaning
were Latin
with little English
and no knowledge of the life
they were boxing and bagging
and packing in.
They didn’t know
what to save
or what the family might want.
It was all
simply product for the army of salvation
or product for the street.

I asked if I could take a memento.
No one seemed to care
so in the fridge
I found her coffee can
and milk.
At least someone
might find something good
from all this loss.

The milk had already spoiled
but the can
contained her cache
just like I thought.
Goodnight, Carol.
Thanks.