Moving Houses
By Linda
Glimmering hope of an endpoint
boxes and shrapnel
surreptitious filing of attic detritus
not accessed for over ten years
into the external green wheeled receptacle
haggling when treasure comes to light
whether into storage or bin or recycle
parental attic reamed for careless offsprings’ lack of decision
don’t want it with them
couldn’t decide what to keep
so leave it with us
endless Gchat photos to said daughters
who should know better
both in their late twenties and long flown the coop
beanies
school notes
certificates
grimey frisbees
photos
school contact books from 10 years since
trumpet case – wind band will have it
clarinet case – likewise
music for said clarinet
binned
decision time ladies
charity bin bags and boxes
recycling runs
including calcified sodden garden chemis
stored in fragile boxes
wash dried over and over through the hole in the shed roof
trailer waddled on dead bearing wheels
chicken wire tangled and stabbed through with bean poles
roof racks from well before the millenium
off of cars long since scrapped into cubes
all laid out for the rag and bone man
tussles at noon
two neighbours
back from wifely confirmations
each wanting the trailer
they can have it
address changes insurance utilities broadband tv all the usual
phone calls climbing down hierarchical trees of decisions
none quite matching the need
only to land on the musack
yes we value your custom
over and over
we are sorry
we are experiencing a high number of calls
then back to the musack
thirty minutes of life lost to the aether
skips filling
tempers fraying
storage unit stuffed to a shoe horned close of the door
cat sorted off to a friend for the duration
no such luck for me
the mere minion handling the moving
red cheeks and undone ring backs
this move’s to a rental
house hunting’s the next step
onto purchase a new home
reset in six months
repeating the process
what a decision
self-selecting this as our ground hog day