The Hoarder

The Hoarder By Elton Camp The clutter in her house grows every day For Agnes can’t throw anything away Cardboard boxes, plastic bags, junk mail All of them are stored away by the bale Stuff that Agnes picked up on the street She can’t discard because it is too neat These items and many thousands more In house, porch and garage does store A winding path between piles she must take The pitiful sight makes one’s heart ache An odious stench her collection does emit It causes even her relatives to have a fit “Aunt Agnes, please let us help clean up” “I might need this,” she says with a gulp No amount of reasoning will succeed Their repeated urgings she won’t heed Her massive collection continued to grow Until to a nursing home she had to go When her savings were finally gone, Her Certificates of Deposit withdrawn The house for sale had to be cleaned out Of compulsive hoarding there was no doubt The material that had given Agnes a thrill Sadly, was then buried in the landfill