Childless

I always thought
the reason we never had kids
was because I was afraid
they would be too much like me.

Now I'm looking around
at all this clutter:
Her piles of
old Hollywood Reporters
that were read once,
will never be read again,
but will never quite find their way
into the landfill and

Years-old catelogues
of slinky lingerie 
that she'll never buy
because Victoria's real secret is  
that none of this stuff
will ever fit and

Everywhere
there are dead flowers
pulverized by time
into thin layers of
decomposing dust and

My personal fave--
old wine bottles 
empty except for the fuzzy memories
of some long since forgotten
binge.

And then I realize:
the reason we never had kids
was because I was really afraid
They would be
like her.