Excerpt from "Discarded: Poems For My Apartment"

The Santa doll small enough
to fit in the Christmas coffee mug
no one even used during the season.
Cup and doll bought in bulk, their only purpose
to be handed out like folded two-color
reminders about Jesus in the subway.
My co-worker had a similar purpose,
letting everyone in the office know
she had given us thought—at least
the correct spelling of our names.
Foreign totem, urn of annoying family member,
they stay on cupboard and bureau
in order to not upset a women
we would never see again by choice.
Most religions begin this way.