The Paper Cup

City park, cold and dark
Rats that bite, dogs that bark

I wrote that about 20 years ago, and for some reason I still remember it. It didn’t end there, but I don’t remember the words I chose after that. It was about a discarded paper cup that was blown around in the wind (starting in the park). As it bounced from place to place, it made people smile. I must have thought it would be fun to have a random bit of garbage going around spreading joy.

The bit I remember isn’t much, but it’s full of imagery: visual (a dark park, rats, dogs), feeling (the cold, the biting rats), and audible (barking dogs). Maybe that’s why I remember it. Like song lyrics, it also rhymes and has a definite rhythm, which probably helps with remembering it as well.