The Squash

The Squash  2/9/2015

 Walking the dog on a very cold night -                                                

Because the park is just too muddy, too slushy,

Slippery - because the rain is turning into black ice, 

And the frozen snow gets under her pads and hurts her paws,

And because she kicks off her bright red booties,

I walked her uptown on Central Park West.

Stuck in the frozen snow ,

On the edge of the sidewalk

Was a squash - an acorn squash.

It must have fallen out of someone’s grocery bag

As she – or he - shlepped the shopping cart home

Over the spikes and rivulets of slush and ice,

Or rolled out of it when they unloaded the car

Which may have been the one parked on the other side

Of the frozen mound, mostly black from the soot, by now.

Although I could see that beneath the ashy surface ,

It was still white.

At any rate, the squash was mostly round, and grooved,

And definitely orange,

An anomaly in that spot on the sidewalk.

Against the sooty ice.

I should have just taken a picture of it,

But, I picked it up, tucked it under my arm

As the dog pulled me toward home, the leash in one hand

And I spoke on the phone to my daughter with the other.

Oh, about my grandson’s getting over the flu

and my grand-daughter’s so individual- take on life

Then -

“YOU did WHAT?” my daughter screeched ,

As I told her about the squash

“Mom - It’s dirty.  Throw it out!”

“Well, I WILL wash it….”

“No!  You picked up a squash that dogs probably peed on “–

It had never occurred to me-

To me it was simply a veggie, 

Sitting in the snow, having lost its purpose,

And should be cooked.

All I saw was a lost squash obviously thinking,

“I don’t belong here. In the cold."

“You know I hate waste, Beth “ I said.

“What’s more important? Waste or being poisoned?

It’s not going to poison anyone – it’s just a squash. I'll peel it!"

“Mom, you know how anxiety can shorten your life?”

I had heard of that.

“I think you just took ten minutes from me.“

Oh, dear. 

Maybe I should just take the squash back to where I found it

Take the picture of an orange squash

Lost in the grayish city- snow by the side of the curb

And leave it there.

Maybe someone else will pick it up –

Someone who really needs a squash.

Oh, God, now I \wonder if a rat had gnawed at it  -

Small sections of the skin was scraped-

And I will come down with bubonic plague.

No, the skin was probably just sideswiped,

Grazed by the ice when it fell.

A rat would have eaten the whole thing - 

Invited his ratty friends to partake.

Pigeons would have been pecking.  

A raccoon might have wandered over.

Certainly a squirrel or two.

There wouldn’t have been anything left of

An acorn squash sitting in the snow.

For me to tuck under my arm and take home.