the scream

it's a formal letter.
stamped
and printed out,
signed by a variety of people
on the board.
it's detailed and long,
but the gist
of it is that I put
a bag of trash out too
early
on the curb, before dark,
and left one behind
a bush
where they found it
and were horrified.
I can almost see their hands
upon their faces,
mouths wide open
emitting a scream.
(see Edvard Munch's The Scream)
but the letter,
it's a legal document.
there's a wax seal embedded
at the bottom. blood red.
i'm on a list now,
i have a record. i'm
being watched.
I almost feel like
a communist in the 50's.
I am a Rosenberg.
I ball up the letter and put
it in a bag of trash.
I set that out behind the bush.
it should be dark
in a few hours.