It starts with a glance
At a packed corner
Each eye sweeps
The entire room
And from the eyes
It moves
To the hands
Legs
Feet
Boxes of old papers
Clothes
Magazines long out of print
Find their way
Out the door
To the trash or dumpster
Like a lifer at a company
Who was a good servant
Loyal
Dependable
Until no longer wanted
Even if needed
And shown the door
To make room
For more clutter
Cathy Porter’s poetry has appeared in California Quarterly, Harbinger Asylum, Chaffin Journal, Plainsongs, Homestead Review, and various other journals. Her poem Clocked In was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has two chapbooks available from Finishing Line Press: A Life In The Day and Dust And Angels. Her new chapbook Exit Songs is forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press in 2016. She lives in Omaha, NE.