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Kick the Can

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Please, Feel free ... Kick me down the street Like a dented can - label ripped, rusted edges What else can you do with a damaged container of aluminum, right? Used, empty, bent and busted ... Stained with the residue of all that was inside Of all that I intended, carried, held, and was created for Kick away ... In fact, take a step back and wind that ol' leg up ... Send me right into the next block Or better yet, find a sewer drain, and toe me into it Why leave my horrid shell around? Trash is trash, after all, and nobody cares to see a spoiled canister A marred, beat-up, worthless receptacle ... Destined for the refuse heap anyway Do the world a favor, and knock me straight into oblivion Trust me, I'm beyond recycling Life and love and luck ... Have drained me of everything valuable But if you give me a few good kicks I can still make a pleasant sound-or-two A requiem rattle down the road to ruin ... "The Canticle of the Can" ... Song of the sewer for a sad, sorry, cylindrical SOB Please, Feel free ... You "opened me up", so send me flying to scrap-metal hell ... Go ahead ... while you still can. * SECOND PLACE in the "Dented Cans" Poetry Contest, John Lawless, Sponsor. *

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Line Gauthier

Date: 4/19/2018 10:29:00 PM

Back with congrats on your podium finish, Gregory.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 4/22/2018 7:06:00 AM

Thank you, Line - you're going back a ways! ;-) <3

Maureen Mcgreavy

Date: 1/14/2018 8:10:00 AM

Yay! Back with congrats! Let's play :)

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/16/2018 1:56:00 AM

Thank you so much, Dear Mo - let's go ... kick away! ;-) <3

Ronald Kent

Date: 1/13/2018 8:08:00 PM

Nice placement Gregory.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/16/2018 1:56:00 AM

Thank you, Ronald.

Jan Allison

Date: 1/13/2018 4:40:00 PM

brilliantly written great metaphor Greg congrats on your win:-) hugs Jan xx

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/16/2018 1:56:00 AM

Very kind of you, Jan, thank you so much, my friend! :-)

John Lawless

Date: 1/13/2018 12:12:00 PM

...filled with stinging metaphor..."The Canticle of the Can"..."song of the sewer"..."thank you sir---may I have another". Thanks for participating in the contest..

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/16/2018 1:54:00 AM

Thank you very much, John, I'm pleased you enjoyed it, and so humbled and honored to be on a winner's list with such amazing writers! Blessings, my friend! :-)

Line Gauthier

Date: 1/5/2018 12:52:00 PM

Well done, Gregory. Loved to follow you through this tirade of adorable self-pity. I truly enjoyed the ride. Well done and GL.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/5/2018 5:21:00 PM

Very sweet of you, Line, thank you - I come by this sort of attitude naturally, lol, so it wasn't much of a stretch, sadly, (though I AM improving on the self-deprecation front, haha!). I'm pleased you enjoyed it, friend - blessings! :-) <3

Maureen Mcgreavy

Date: 1/5/2018 11:31:00 AM

Lol love the energy in this! Good luck in the contest my friend! xomo <3

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/5/2018 5:19:00 PM

Thanks so much, Mo, I had a feeling you might like this one ... we are alike in some very different sort of ways, (energy-wise, especially), that rather sardonic wit tinged with a wink of the eye ... sarcasm with a smile! Blessings, my friend! :-) <3

Judith S

Date: 1/5/2018 10:01:00 AM

I find this very, very sad :* But so brilliantly written Greg!! You have actually made me empathetic for that used up can ... as the parellels with a person are so cleverly realistic. Good luck in the contest!! ~Judy

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/5/2018 5:16:00 PM

Such wonderful comments, Judy, thank you so much! I'm very pleased that you liked this rather ambiguous metaphor ... I had a lot of fun with it! (I have a lot of practice at the self-deprecation thing - something I'm TRYING to shake, lol). Blessings, Dear Friend! :-) <3

Silent One

Date: 1/5/2018 8:32:00 AM

Great use of metaphor, you expressed this very well in your own unique style..

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/5/2018 5:14:00 PM

Thank you very much, S1 - I greatly appreciate it! :-)

Subimal Sinha-Roy

Date: 1/5/2018 4:57:00 AM

A wonderful poem, Greg., the form and contents are thoroughly enjoyable. A great write indeed.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/5/2018 5:14:00 PM

That's very kind of you - thank you so much, Subimal! :-)

Rhoda Tripp

Date: 1/5/2018 4:33:00 AM

This wonderful, well written personification is sure to rank a win. Very awesome job. It brought back memories for me of a game we used to play as kids named kick the can. Did anyone else play it or was it an invented game by a horde of bored siblings? I don't know.

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 1/5/2018 4:37:00 AM

Thank you so much, Rhoda, I'm so pleased you liked it! Yes, I played "Kick the Can" many times, and that was indeed the idea for the personification of abuse here ... the last use of the shell of what was ...