Agent Orange

It's a landfill, heaps of trash
Floor is littered with obstacles
No clear path in sight.
A no man's land
A disaster waiting to happen.

The search is on
A reconnaissance mission to retrieve
A beloved friend
A small turtle
Hiding somewhere in this room.

Picking up the socks
Tossing around the bags
Lifting up the papers
I fail to locate
This small orange and brown creature.

Where can he be?
Did he escape
Through back door
Or unlocked front porch?
I hear no small feet scratching linoleum.

He likes crevices
He loves to hide
There, there is a bag
Gently, gently I pick it up
Reach inside to grab ... a hard shell!

Agent Orange! I yell
We could have thrown you away,
This bag was to be trash.
I stare into large red eyes.
His only response ... he pees on my hand!

© Leona Seufert


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