Saltwater Display (What Has Changed)

Everything the same, just as I left it,
mostly.
I didn’t plan on the saltwater
puddle sitting on the desktop.

My collection of figurines
still stood, surprisingly dust free.

I didn’t have the time or energy
to deal with the ones
that are more disappointing than charming now.

I had to pull myself together
and clean up that puddle,

likely originating from a well-meaning attempt
to keep order in an office equivalent of a ghost town.

As much as I’d like to ignore
the puddle of saltwater
eroding the foundation

of the salt tea light holder
that someone was kind enough to gift me
as a token of protection,

it invaded the space
where my laptop plugs into.
I have no time

for saltwater displays
in an office, trying to go on
as if nothing has changed

and pretend that ghosts aren’t here too.

An old picture of my office cubical. A co-worker said he easily figured out
who it belonged to without looking for the name tag.


Song Choice: Back In Black

Liner Notes For This Groove: This poem was created for the Weekly Scribblings prompt, Change and Renewal, at Poets and Storytellers United. 

30 comments:

  1. Ah yes, change is what we live in now, isn't it? With many no working from home, I hadn't thought about what it must be like for people who do go into their offices at least some of the time.

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    1. It's really strange! And the full staff wasn't in when I went, just my department.

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  2. Ghosts ti fill in the blanks of Covid 19 emptiness. Clever.

    Happy Wednesday

    Much❤love

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  3. Everything has changed, even if some among us refuse to believe it.

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    1. I do not get what kind of level of cognitive dissonance has to happen to deny what's going on.

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  4. Cubicles NEED personality and you have filled yours to the brim!

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  5. A salt water puddle removed means you were there. I'm thinking those spots may be COVID and the damages due to the careless acts of others.
    ..

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  6. Indeed the world is on a standstill, but let's hope that things becoem better soon.
    Take care.

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  7. I love that your co-worker knew exactly who occupied that cubicle. Hoping the saltwater had appeared to keep the figurines dust free, then realized it would have etched away at them. Scary times indeed.

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    1. I am glad that they stayed clean in the year away.

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  8. If only we could accept change more gracefully. However if we think about it change happens regardless but hopefully it is something those that live together can accept as it will appear much slower.

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    1. It is a rare soul who accepts change completely gracefully. I envy them.

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  9. your cubicle certainly has personality.
    yes, to come back to the office after WFH and see your desk messed up...

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    1. I hope there won't be a repeat of it next time I come in

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  10. the pandemic has turned everything into a spooky ghost town, even some of the people i meet resemble spooky ghost towns. these are spooky ghost town days my friend, spooky spooky spooky ( i like the artwork i see in your office, you must love your job)

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    1. Yeah, I know plenty who have a collection of scars and ghosts after this last year and half.

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  11. So much has changed yet everything stays the same. Your poem is a gentle reminder of personal and collective losses we are still processing. We certainly cannot "pretend that ghosts aren't here too".

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    1. Exactly. We're all processing it, but it still isn't over.

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  12. There are still a lot of empty cubicles, and a lot of people working from the kitchen table at home!! You tell the tale eloquently.

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    1. I've got a really sweet set up at my kitchen table. LOL, it's also very close to the tea kettle.

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  13. This is heartbreaking. People who haven't lost people they love don't often understand that the actual death is not the hardest part, the funeral is not the hardest part, the hardest part is what comes next: trying to live in a world with a huge hole in it, and with almost everything around you reminding you of what we lost... Those salt puddles will probably diminished, but they rarely go completely away. 💔

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    1. Its all the little milestones that remind you there's an empty space where someone used to be. And so many people are wandering around with that ache while there's a push to act as if everyone can simply go back to the way things were before.

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  14. So many things have changed!!! It still isn't over, is it? Big Hugs!

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