People don’t grow up the way they used to.
By which I mean—
sometimes I store trash in the freezer
to make it to garbage day.
             I harness the cold
             to disinfect my jeans.

My friend lives in a garage
             with the landlord’s freezer.
Some days, she practices sticking her head in a kitchen
appliance, but gets too cold and has to stop.

Rent includes electricity, gas, and
garbage, but
not the tomato plants outside,
or the hall corner spider.
So, she pays fifteen dollars extra
to keep them alive.
Gladly gives up ice cream to afford their spindles. Which,

bonus, leaves more room for her head.

Some days, I think,
             a versatile icebox
             is not
the worst thing to have
or to be.

Image: Open icebox (1917), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.