Poetry
three
ASHES TO ASHES
Life expectancy of a white U.S. male born in 1981, the year I was born: 71.1
Life expectancy of a white U.S. female born in 1983, the year my sister Emily was born: 78.7
Prevalence rate of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the U.S. population: 0.002%
Factor by which women are more likely than men to have SLE: 9
Average number of years less than the general female population women with SLE are expected to live: 22
Number of years less than the general female population that my sister was expected to live with SLE, according to her rheumatologist: 48.7
Minimum number of years by which Emily’s lifespan has now exceeded the rheumatologist’s estimate: 5
Number of years Emily had been taking phenobarbital, a barbiturate used to prevent seizures, when she had her first severe lupus flare at age 16: 15
Number of months she took intravenous Cytoxan, a potent immunosuppressant typically used on cancer patients, to treat SLE: 6
Number of years she took prednisone, an immunosuppressant steroid, after completing her course of Cytoxan: 4
Approximate annual academic merit scholarship monies Emily received, at age 18, to attend Drew University: $20,000
Number of semesters she attended Drew before she was expelled for drug use: 1
Number of years Emily was an intravenous heroin user: 7
Number of years she was addicted to heroin: 4
Number of those years that she and I were estranged: 3
Number of times my parents and I discussed together our feelings about Emily’s medical or drug problems: 0
Percentage of those three estranged years that overlapped with my online poker habit: 100%
My approximate poker winnings--after a half-year hiatus from the game and playing at lower stakes than usual--during the Fall 2010 semester: $20,000
Total amount of money I deposited to online poker sites, ever: $500
At the height of my poker career, approximate amount of money I would have in play, across all tables, during a typical online session: $5,000
2010 CUNY Adjunct Instructor wage for a three credit course: $2,917.80
Number of CUNY courses I taught, as a doctoral student in the system, once I started making money at poker: 0
2010 Median Household Income of Staten Island’s Oakwood Beach neighborhood, where Emily and I grew up and where our parents still live: $69,264
Percentage of 2010 Oakwood Beach residents who were white: 90.7
Percentage who were Italian-American: 48.7
Factor by which Staten Island’s opioid overdose rate exceeds the rate of New York City’s other
four boroughs: 3
Months after Emily kicked her heroin addiction for the last time that her ex-boyfriend died of a heroin overdose: 3
Distance, in minutes driving, from our parents’ house to Great Kills, the neighborhood that is the statistical epicenter of Staten Island’s opioid epidemic: 3
Distance, in minutes driving, from our parents’ house to Staten Island’s Fresh Kills, the world’s largest landfill until its 2001 closure: 10
Distance, in city blocks, from our parents’ house to the Oakwood Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant: 10
Distance, in city blocks, from our parents’ house to the Oakwood Beach floodline after Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 1
Span of years during which I lived in that house: 1981 - 1999
Fraction of neighboring families’ children that I grew up with who, as adults, still live with their parent or parents in the same house: 4/7
Number of minutes I used to walk, at age 14, to meet a group of teens and go drinking on the steps of Moravian Cemetery’s Vanderbilt Mausoleum: 40
Houses away from my parents’ house that one person from that group, who now works for the Department of Sanitation, moved with his wife and children: 1
Number of times, in recent casual conversation with him, I thought about mentioning long-time DSNY artist-in-residence Mierle Laderman Ukeles but, not wanting to appear pretentious, thought better of it: 2
Date on which Fresh Kills landfill was supposed to receive its last barge of waste: March 22, 2001
Tons of material transported on an emergency basis from Ground Zero to Fresh Kills on September 11, 2001: 1,200,000
Daily tons of residential waste received by Fresh Kills during its peak operating capacity in the 1980s: 29,000
Approximate tons of solid waste currently in Fresh Kills: 150,000,000
Estimated year of completion for Freshkills Park, a New York City public park being built on top of the former landfill: 2037
Medium projected 2037 sea level rise, in inches, for the waters surrounding New York City: 12
Minimum number of objects that I threw away in 2015: 23,408
Percentage of those objects that were foodstuffs or food packaging: 14
Percentage made of paper: 81
Minimum number of toilet paper squares that I discarded in 2015: 10,417
Minimum number of junk mailings: 81
Of origami frogs: 1
Animal bones: 181
WASTE BOOK
(day-by-day sample)
10/1/15
50 squares of toilet paper; frozen waffle box + plastic lining bag; 14 paper towels; 3 plastic cups; plastic yogurt parfait cup + insert; plastic spoon; tinfoil food tray + plastic lid; plastic spoon; 6 napkins; 2 baby wipes; muffin baking cup, paper; paper cup; 8 plastic bags; hot dog package, plastic; frozen peas bag; frozen corn bag; 6 tissues; 1 piece, junk mail; 1 length of dental floss; apple core
10/2/15
tissue box; 4 tissues; hot dog bun bag; 1 magazine; 2 plastic cups; 60 pieces of paper; large envelope; tinfoil food container; plastic spoon, fork + knife; 1 piece tinfoil; plastic food container; plastic knife; 5 paper towels; union leaflet; museum ticket; 1 junk mail; 1 envelope; 1 bad apple; small plastic food container; uneaten cup of pesto sauce; 4 chicken bones; frozen edamame bag; 2 bowls of edamame shells; cardboard toilet paper tube; plastic raspberry box; plastic blueberry box
10/3/15
tissue box; 12 tissues; 50 squares of toilet paper; cardboard paper towel tube; 16 paper towels; sandwich wrapping; brown paper bag; soap wrapper; 1 origami frog; plastic yogurt container; plastic food container; 2 pieces, tinfoil; pork chop bone; pork chop wrapping; salad bag, plastic; apple core; 8 pieces, used masking tape; 2 handfuls of peanuts; small bag of dates rolled in oats; 1 handful, pretzels; 1 length of dental floss
10/4/15
coffee grounds bag; coffee filter + used grounds; 1 egg shell; cold cut wrapping; half an uneaten grapefruit; pork chop bone; museum ticket; museum sticker; small paper coffee cup; 7 tissues; 4 receipts; apple core; small plastic bag; turkey burger wrapping
10/5/15
frozen waffle box + plastic lining bag; glass pasta sauce jar; glass barbeque sauce flask; orange rind; coffee filter + used grounds; 2 glass salad dressing containers; 90 squares of toilet paper; glass peanut butter jar; chicken cutlet wrapping; ground pork wrapping; frozen brown rice box; frozen brown rice plastic package; frozen peas bag; 1 piece, junk mail; 2 junk mail magazines
10/6/15
plastic food container; tinfoil quiche tray; plastic fork + knife; paper plate; plastic cup
10/7/15
50 squares of toilet paper; 13 paper towels; 2 lengths of dental floss; coffee filter + used grounds; English muffin box + bag; 2 pieces, tinfoil; head of cauliflower bag; 1 piece of Tupperware; plastic juice box package wrapper; 2 plastic trail mix bags; handful of cranberry trail mix; 6 tortilla shells; plastic tortilla shell bag; 10 rice cakes; plastic rice cake bag; 2 bowls of granola; 3 ziploc bags; handful of cheese puffs; handful of almonds; chocolate lollipop + wrapper; 4 gummy snack pouches; handful of gummy bears; 2 plastic food containers; handful of pine nuts; 2 dozen shelled pistachios; small lime; handful of peanut m+m’s
10/8/15
tinfoil food tray + plastic lid; 4 plastic cups; 7 napkins; 2 plastic forks; plastic knife; 2 paper plates; sundry pork bones; plastic yogurt parfait cup + insert; brown paper bag; 8 paper towels; 25 squares of toilet paper; 2 baby wipes; 5 tissues; 2 pieces, note paper; 1 length of dental floss
10/9/15
cardboard toilet paper tube; coffee filter + used grounds; frozen waffle box + plastic lining bag; 2 plastic straws; 50 squares of toilet paper; 3 plastic bags; 2 plastic food containers; plastic fork, knife + spoon; 4 napkins; plastic cup; plastic yogurt parfait cup + insert; used condom + wrapper; 1 length of dental floss
10/10/15
2 receipts; sandwich wrapping; 3 napkins; brown paper bag; 1 length of dental floss; 1 magazine; grocery list; 50 squares of toilet paper
10/11/15
museum ticket; 3 tissues; 4 paper towels; pasta bag, plastic; 2 plastic food containers; 2 glass pasta sauce jars; frozen vegetables bag; 1 receipt; 1 length of dental floss; 50 squares of toilet paper
10/12/15
English muffin; ziploc bag; pork chop wrapping; ravioli box + plastic wrapping; coffee filter + used grounds; sandwich wrapping; 3 napkins; receipt; plastic bag; 6 tissues; 3 paper towels; 2 pork fat rinds; 1 piece, tinfoil; gallon milk jug, plastic; 50 squares of toilet paper
10/13/15
5 paper towels; 2 baby wipes; paper plate; plastic fork, knife + spoon; sandwich wrapping; 1 napkin; 80 squares of toilet paper; 1 length of dental floss; used condom + wrapper
10/14/15
25 squares of toilet paper; 1 paper towel; 5 tissues; bread bag; small container of ground pork; 2 pork chop fat rinds; uneaten bunch of asparagus; half bag of grapes + plastic bag; 4 pieces, avocado; uneaten pork chop; handful, uneaten rice; half piece, moldy salmon; 1 tortilla shell; half an uneaten turkey burger; tissue box; cracker box; 1 length of dental floss
10/15/15
1 Q-tip; 25 squares of toilet paper; 1 paper towel; 1 tissue; plastic yogurt parfait cup + insert; plastic sushi tray; plastic fork; 5 napkins; tinfoil food tray + plastic lid; 2 plastic spoons; 1 junk mail; plastic take out bowl + lid; wooden chopsticks; plastic food container; plastic face wash dispenser; 1 length of dental floss
10/16/15
glass peanut butter jar; 50 squares of toilet paper; cardboard toilet paper tube; toilet paper roll plastic wrapping; receipt; sandwich wrapping; 4 napkins; 2 baby wipes; 3 paper towels; tinfoil food tray + plastic lid; plastic spoon; 1 beer bottle; pear core; 1 length of dental floss
10/17/15
12 tissues; 3 cold cut wrappings; several spoonfuls of oatmeal; 2 apple cores; plastic food container; 1 piece, tinfoil; brown paper bag; 6 napkins; plastic dry cleaning bag; 2 magazines; plastic gift card; plastic gallon water jug; microwave popcorn bag; microwave popcorn box; 1 piece, tissue paper; 1 rose; bunch of carnations; 8 paper towels; frozen vegetable bag; shrimp bag; glass pasta sauce jar; pasta box; 2 receipts; plastic Listerine bottle; 1 piece, note paper
10/18/15
frozen waffle box + plastic lining bag; grapefruit rind; 60 squares of toilet paper; banana peel; apple core; chicken cutlet package; plastic pasta bag; cauliflower head plastic wrapping; 2 pieces, tinfoil; chili marinade glass jar; 12 paper towels; 6 tissues; wooden chopsticks; 1 napkin; small paper coffee cup; 1 length of dental floss
10/19/15
banana peel; 2 tinfoil food trays + plastic lids; plastic fork, spoon + knife; 3 napkins; small coffee filter + used grounds; 5 pieces, junk mail; 2 receipts; 2 plastic clothes wrappings; 1 length of dental floss
10/20/15
2 baby wipes; 8 paper towels; 1 tinfoil food container + plastic lid; plastic fork + knife; 1 napkin; 4 tissues
10/22/15
25 squares of toilet paper; 2 baby wipes; 9 paper towels; small plastic dinner roll bag; coffee filter + used grounds; receipt; tinfoil food tray + plastic lid; 6 napkins; plastic sushi tray; soy sauce packet; wasabi clump; ginger slices pile; union newspaper; envelope; 1 length of dental floss; small plastic cup; paper plate; 2 plastic forks; plastic knife; paper cup; plastic plate; gallon plastic water jug
10/23/15
1 paper towel; 5 napkins; 2 baby wipes; sandwich wrapping; receipt; plastic yogurt parfait cup + insert; plastic spoon; microwave popcorn bag; 3 plastic grocery bags; roast chicken carcass; ravioli box + plastic wrapping; 1 piece, junk mail; 1 junk mail magazine; hanger + dry cleaning wrapping; plastic food container; 2 condoms + wrappers; 1 length of dental floss
10/24/15
50 squares of toilet paper; plastic soup bowl; 5 tissues; 3 paper towels; receipt; paper towel tube; toilet paper tube
10/25/15
soap wrapper; travel tissue wrapper; 2 tinfoil food containers + plastic lids; museum ticket; handful of uneaten spaghetti; 25 squares of toilet paper; 4 napkins; paper cup; sandwich wrapping; large paper coffee cup; receipt; 3 paper towels; 1 piece, note paper; apple core; 2 lengths of dental floss; 1 q-tip; gallon plastic water jug; tissue box; 7 tissues; museum ticket
10/26/15
2 apple cores; plastic food container; 1 paper towel; bread bag; 10 tissues; broken electric razor blade, ceramic; 1 magazine; sausage wrapping; plastic pasta bag; frozen vegetable bag; 2 receipts; return receipt label; 25 squares of toilet paper; Snapea Crisp bag; hot dog bun bag; large kitchen garbage bag; 3 pieces, junk mail; 1 junk mail catalogue; plastic granola bag; 1 length of dental floss
10/27/15
frozen waffle box + plastic lining bag; plastic yogurt parfait cup + insert; plastic spoon; 5 napkins; 2 baby wipes; 5 paper towels; 6 tissues; paper plate; tinfoil quiche tray + plastic lid; plastic food container; plastic fork + knife; coffee filter + used grounds; 2 receipts; 25 squares of toilet paper; apple core; 1 length of dental floss
10/28/15
apple core; plastic food container; 7 paper towels; coffee filter + used grounds; 1 tissue; 6 napkins; envelope; 1 piece of paper; receipt; tinfoil food tray + plastic lid; plastic spoon; 1 length of dental floss; 50 squares of toilet paper
10/29/15
2 q-tips; 6 paper towels; receipt; 2 baby wipes; brown paper bag; tinfoil food container + plastic lid; plastic fork + knife; 2 napkins; tissue box; 2 tissues; coffee filter + used grounds; plastic banana bag; banana peel; 4 uneaten chicken cutlets; 50 squares of toilet paper
10/30/15
6 paper towels; 3 baby wipes; plastic yogurt parfait cup + insert; plastic spoon; 35 squares of toilet paper; 1 piece, note paper; coffee filter + used grounds; plastic gift card; plastic granola bag; paper food container; 1 length of dental floss
10/31/15
frozen waffle box + plastic lining bag; apple core; 2 magazines; small plastic yogurt container; brown paper bag; 2 sandwich wrappings; 12 napkins; tortilla chips bag; coffee filter + used grounds; 10 tissues; condom + wrapper; plastic food container; 2 plastic cups
WASTE BOOK
(counting stats)
Categorized totals
food containers, glass: 47
plastic bags, general: 549
plastic bags, food packaging: 268
food containers, plastic: 391
tinfoil food containers + plastic lids: 48
plastic utensils: 185
cups, paper: 93
cups, plastic: 112
cups, styrofoam: 5
napkins: 1,100
tissues: 2,765
pieces of paper: 2,049
paper towels: 1,501
food containers, paper: 122
lengths of dental floss: 180
squares of toilet paper: 10,417
non-food containers, paper: 79
food wrappings, paper: 399
food wrappings, plastic: 180
non-foodstuff containers, plastic: 40
non-foodstuff wrappings, plastic: 170
non-foodstuff wrappings, paper: 33
large non-foodstuffs: 115
small non-foodstuffs: 456
baby wipes: 106
food containers, metal: 8
Individual item totals (sample)
gallon water jugs, plastic: 23
1 liter seltzer bottles, plastic: 77
cardboard boxes: 57
origami frogs: 1
plates, plastic: 12
plates, paper: 40
pieces of tinfoil: 34
brown paper bags: 47
cups of uneaten solid food: 33
uneaten foodstuffs, whole: 43
uneaten foodstuffs, large pieces: 291
uneaten foodstuffs, small pieces: 193
liquid ounces of uneaten semi-solid food: 114
cups of vegetable shells/ends: 12.5
fruit (+egg) shells/rinds/peels: 65
scraps, globs, stems, pits, veins, etc.: 423
clumps of used coffee grounds: 91
coffee filters: 91
fruit cores: 123
animal carcasses: 4
animal bones: 21
tea bags: 72
tea bag wrappers: 66
pieces of junk mail: 65
cough drop wrappers: 57
magazines: 41
condoms: 49
condom wrappers: 49
receipts: 282
butcher wrappings, paper + plastic: 73
tickets: 48
