NYC Trash Stories

Signing Off

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

52,000 marathon runners, But this sign is for you. For everything you are, And everything you do. 26.2 miles is an incredibly long race, But so is life and the challenges we face. I’m so grateful that your miles are...Read More

Rough Night Out

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

I escaped the claws of a lion To be abandoned in the rain, But I was gloriously free To start my life again. But the night brought a recklessness That only a sad mind can understand, Because when you’re alone...Read More

So True

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Sometimes the trash we encounter on the streets of New York City has its own message, and any sort of commentary or artful exploration meaning for isn't necessary. This was one of those times. The trash, and its surrounding context,...Read More

Goodbye My Castle

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Forgotten memories in every room, Now sidewalk trash under a rising moon. The imagination needs a place to play, Until life gets real and there is rent to pay. The cost of growing up is dire indeed, As we all...Read More

Petals

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Both of us tried, You know we did. One rose of a soul, We felt like kids. Then one of us fell,  Or were we pushed? Onto the sidewalk, Where we were smushed.  And now we’re alone, Our love became...Read More

Better

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Walking south on the west side down, Black umbrellas hiding faces all around. Suddenly a flower in the cold winter rain, And a bright hat that no one wants to claim. Such is the price of January weather, As the...Read More

2022 Trash Item of the Year: Chairs 

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

I’m guessing 2022 will go down in history as the year New Yorkers got out of their chairs and began to live again. After seemingly countless false starts declaring “New York City is back!”, it wasn’t until later in 2022...Read More

Life Is A Marathon

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

My fiancé has run the NYC marathon five times. A few years ago she introduced me to her favorite part of the event: Finish Line After Dark.  Long after the sun has set and the runners have drifted off to...Read More

Is This Me? – Out Of Air (Part Two)*

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Is this me? Is this really who I am? Abandoned in a doorway, I was just in a trash can. Is this really me, Can anyone live like this? When all I ever wanted, Was to belong and have a...Read More

Out of Air (Part One)

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

I found you dying in the sunset, As autumn in the City began. Another woman took your picture, And we laughed at your trash can. Though we didn’t know your story, We could feel there was sadness. Because nightfall on...Read More

Washed Your Hands Of This

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

You finally made it to Broadway, Wearing costumes you made at home. But everyone knew you were acting, And now you’re all alone. The summer heat felt like applause, Ovations of sweat and lust. Your dreams became your reality, But...Read More

Missed America

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Darts on a board, Red, white, and blue. Our aim was off, But our intentions were true. Does any of it matter, When the game is a lie? What happens to scorekeepers, When the numbers die? The British Empire fell,...Read More

Your Dream Now

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Don’t ask me how I got here. It’s a sad story. pillow talk Don’t ask me where I belong. It’s a painful story. sail away Don’t ask me where I’m going. It’s an unknowable story. lonely dreams Don’t ask me...Read More

West Side Sorry*

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

I am a manhole cover, Wanted no more. I kept you from falling, Through the City floor. But now I’m diseased with rust, Because I’ve forever lost your trust. Sometimes I explode in flame, And violently land without shame. But...Read More

I Was Proud

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

There was a time When I was proud. I had majestic horns  And my enemies bowed. Love was mine And so were you. But time changed us  And I changed too. My weakness showed My demons glowed. From home I...Read More

Red Door Reflection

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Vision holds a door of time That defines existence. Until the reflection is broken By the entirety of life. In the discarded mirror We never expected. Poem by New York Trash Stories. (Broken mirror found on 55th Street between 9th...Read More

Framed

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Life was a broken wall Of random graffiti, Until you came With your frame. you are here And now there is focus On this chaos of bricks, Thanks to the context Of you. surrounded by gold above the hidden stairs...Read More

Next Life Time

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

I prey when I wake up I’ll be a Lamborgini Electric rock rap god I’ll prey to a god That when I am to be risen Thought Full This poem was pulled directly from a notebook discovered flapping on a...Read More

2021 Trash Item of the Year: Iconic, Beautifully Beleaguered NYC Trash Can

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

The year 2021 was rougher than most New Yorkers expected. What began as a year of hope that vaccines and reasonable people would bring an aggressive end to the tragic sweep of COVID-19, played out much differently. Dynamic, more wiley,...Read More

Enough

Posted on by nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

I gave it my all, And life hit back. The colors of my dreams, Now faded into black. NYC bag gives up on life. Cruelty hit hard,  And things got rough. Now I’ve finally broken, I’ve had enough. end of...Read More