3 feet

Unforced Movement
Moving without trying to improve anything.

The rain had slowed
and the ground wasn’t muddy,
so I decided to hit the trail today
to walk and run a bit.

After I started,
I decided to listen to “classic rock”
in my headphones.

Led Zeppelin,
Rolling Stones,
Beatles.

It mostly transported me
to feeling young,
confident,
a little sassy.

My legs still felt like now,
not like the soccer-playing strength
of years ago.

What snapped me out of it
was a green poop bag
on the trail.

Again.

I was immediately irritated.

It made no sense
that someone would bring a bag
to clean up their dog’s poop,

and then leave the bag
on the trail.

All the trail heads
have multiple trash cans.

But this one
was just left there.

I’ve seen it before.

A better idea
to whoever does this.

Forget the bag.

If your dog poops on the trail,
use your shoe
or a stick,

and flick it off the trail
into the unwalked areas.

It will become fertilizer
and be gone.

Unlike this green bag.

I jogged
to the second trail head.

As I walked by the trash cans
that could have held
the green bag,

I noticed other trash
not even three feet away
in the parking lot.

An old vape pen.
A crushed water bottle.
Something unidentifiable.

I didn’t wonder
why people do that.

I wondered
why I can’t.

I went home.