Author: nyctrashtalk_4p0wuo

Broken chairs. Tattered suitcases. The stories of New Yorkers.

Circles and Wood

What looks like a straight line, Can bend without notice. Until the path forward, Betrays what fate showed us. The life you expected, Was really your family’s past. And now that you’re grown, You know the truth at last. The...Read More

Before the Rain Returns

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Reflections live in the puddle of my mind, Remembering the taxi that left me behind. I made this for you with great affair, And you headed north without a care. Now you are gone and left my life behind, Just...Read More

Broken By Irony

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The orange cones are for protection, Showing passersby the holy direction. But here I am inverted and splayed, In dire need of that reflective aid. No one loves a broken umbrella on a rainy night, Dead on the sidewalk like...Read More

Stuffed monkey on New York City sidewalk

You Were Always Me

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I was once loved, And hugged every day. But everyone grew up, And forgot how to play. They kept me around, Because I reminded them of youth. But life kept going, And revealed a different truth. Money and power, Replaced...Read More

Wooden cane in a New York City street trash can.

Sphinx About It

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NYC is full of Greek mythology, you just have to look for it. You could visit the Met’s Sphinx of Hatshepsut, named after the female Egyptian pharaoh (1473–58 BCE), who gained museum-immortality through the sculpted body of a lion with...Read More

Abandoned washing machine on a New York City sidewalk.

Coming Clean

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What do people mean, When they finally come clean? And wash their bed sheets into flags of surrender, While laundering their souls in a hot air blender? Life is a whirlwind measured by an invisible clock, Mocked by the injustices...Read More

Signing Off

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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

Abandoned cactus cat scratching post on 9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, New York City.

Rough Night Out

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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

Graffiti on a New York City lamppost declaring "Art is free, so is love."

So True

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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

Abandoned doll house on a New York City sidewalk.

Goodbye My Castle

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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

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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

Rainy Manhattan sidewalk, Hells Kitchen.

Better

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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

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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

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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

Deflated blowup doll in Hells Kitchen, New York City.

Is This Me? – Out Of Air (Part Two)*

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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

Blow up doll in Hell's Kitchen, New York City.

Out of Air (Part One)

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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

discarded sink in New York City's theater district

Washed Your Hands Of This

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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

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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

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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*

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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