the new ice box

before the new
one arrives
you unload
the contents
of your old
ice box. there
is an inch of
red ketchup
in several
bottles.
more salad
dressings than
you can count.
the tops firmly
glued stuck.
pickles floating
for years
ignored.
frost covered
food
you've lost
track of.
hard bread
stuffed in
a corner.
stray strands
of salad,
still somehow
green. one
egg without
a friend to
be fried with.
it's a mess
and you promise
the next time,
you'll do better
as you pull
off the sticky
magnets of places
that you've
been.