is nine classes taught on Zoom, the history of waste management  
in New York, and I fill my notebook.  I write everything down. 

We learn that the story of trash is a collection of lies —  
“Iron Eyes Cody” the crying Indian in Keep America Beautiful  

was Italian American.  Keep America Beautiful was funded 
by Coca Cola, Nestle, and McDonalds. 

The story of trash is told through children’s books:  
Trashy Town.  A Very Happy Trash Truck.  I’m Trying to Love Garbage. 

The story of trash forms a question we don’t ask: where  
does our trash go? We know where food comes from, farm to table,  

know the path our bodies travel, cradle to grave. The story of trash  
has a new language: wishcycling, greenwashing, green sheen. 

The story of trash is the board game Dump It! where players start  
with 20 pieces of garbage to get rid of —recycling, compost, incinerator. 

The story of trash is all inequities—Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans  
a poisoned landfill.   Rikers Island the alterative to ocean dumping in 1893. 

The story of trash is found in an archive.  In a latrine where archeologists dig. 

Also outside your house in the bitter slick of rain on asphalt.