how easily luck can about-face

easy as a fruitcake showing up free

the first day of a clichéd cleanse

or sometimes as difficult as waking up on January 2^nd

to a clogged kitchen sink, all the plumbers on federal holidays

finally leaving the house at 12:38

the exact moment the recycling truck trundles by

you thought you missed recycling day last week

when in fact it was this week. you really are incompetent.

with an excess of recycling to boot.

so you decide to make a run for it

drop your bike in the driveway

return for the bin, oversized, overflowing

drag it on tiny plastic wheels up the sidewalk

one house, now two, the truck growls on ceaseless.

you smile, waving to the masked man who now decides your fate

faceless and small, in partnership with a monster

please can you take it you gesture to your bin

apologetic, persuasive, helpless amid the clangs of your neighbor’s waste

without a word the bin is in his arms, then the arms of the roaring truck

it bounces back to you empty

and in the moment of silence that follows he says softly

happy new year

eyes crinkling behind the mask.

you pull the buoyant bin back up the driveway

suddenly living a lucky day.