JUNK DRAWER

I went on a dangerous journey

into my junk drawer today

I knew I was in for adventure

with all of that stuff stored away

Because this drawer has become the main catch-all

thirty years for this family of nine

After years of its use, its a jungle

still added to time after time

I attempt every once in a while

to go through it and organize

but find the task long and exhausting

with items I don't recognize

Fish hooks and paper clips, buttons and pins,

candles, eyeglasses, thumbtacks in tins,

paint brushes, drapery hooks, jewelry, barrettes,

photos of children, school buddies and pets,

exposed rolls of film (or maybe they're not),

all purpose glue, a tiny clay pot,

coupons (expired), nuts, bolts and screws,

a small zippered packet of odd Barbie shoes,

twist ties, merthiolate, an old 8-track tape,

way back in the corner, a petrified grape,

a crank for a window, replaced years ago,

band aids, old toothbrush, a splint for a toe,

stereo needle, five spools of thread,

box cutter, screwdrivers, (both phillips head),

scissors and combs, scrunchies, earplugs,

yo yo, cat collar, and two plastic bugs, *&$*#@!!!

squirt gun, nail clippers, hand cream, lip balm,

Looney tune stickers, a braided dry palm,

a blackened wheat penny, an Easter egg wire,

craft beads all over, a toy tractor tire,

marbles and Legos, pull chain for a lamp,

odds and end recipes, a twenty cent stamp,

newspaper crosswords, q-tips, kite string,

panel and roofing nails, paint sprayer spring,

Handlebar tassles, keys of all kinds,

vacuum attachment for cleaning the blinds,

Campbells soup lables, box tops for school,

old lottery tickets, test kit for the pool,

a map to Front Royal and one to D.C.,

matchbooks, old phone card, flashlight battery,

dice and Bacgammon chips, Monopoly hat,

cribbage board, three decks of cards, thermostat,

chalk, a hole puncher, magnifying glass lens,

not to mention a fistful of pencils and pens

There's plenty more items, but I've not the time

Well.........to be perfectly truthful,

I can't make them rhyme.