Ode to Plastic Cups

“The goal is for no trash to be sent to landfills, incinerators or the ocean.”
–Zero waste definition, Wikipedia 2022

Weight of both reusable glass plus liquid means

my wrist twists down

the only direction it bends

sends drink to splash on carpets or slippery floor

Worse yet

non-flexing elbow means arm

smacks cup across room with accidental gusto

at least once a week

Beloved coffee cups

shatter into h u n d r e d s of p i e c e s

must dredge energy to clean up now

hot beverages, my expensive habit

At restaurants, I have to ask for a straw

slick perspiring drink

pointless to even try to lift

to lips with fingers, hand, shoulder

Instead, I bat and slide glass across tabletop

position straw below mouth, sip

then push it back, nudge, shift

Except, every once in a while, I miscalculate

or glass bottom catches on table surface

to topple and douse eating companion with cold beverage

saturate my clothes and shoes good

Unless the cup is plastic

Oh, chemically bonded vessel, with your springy forgiveness

to bounce passively on floor, patiently listless

you wait for me to retrieve you in my own time

Oh, plastic cup

with your bright shiny colors

your fun designs

your resilient sides

As scooter squeezes you between wheel and wall

you may bend, but do not crack where you lie

Weight light, large brim

I can sip straight from the rim

Glossy red party cups sold in long plastic bags

last me month-long jags

I stock up, dollar store deals

just what works for my body

call it an accommodation

this need for plastic cups

As disabled person

independence is precarious

daily-life and reason

constructed upon a wobbly set of Crip-hacks

get me from, can’t to good enough

Where is my place in zero waste?

Source: Rituals for Climate Change: A Crip Struggle for Ecojustice (punctum books, 2023)

Disability Poetics

Ode to Plastic Cups