Ode to the Toilet Paper Roll (Left Empty)

O empty cardboard cylinder,

husk of a thousand promises,

you hang there

on the silver spindle

like a tiny monument

to someone else's indifference.

Who did this?

Who used the last sheet,

set you back empty on the holder,

and walked away

without remorse?

This is how civilizations fall.

Not with a bang,

not with a trumpet,

but with a cardboard tube

and a person

who thought

it was someone else's problem.

I have replaced you.

I have mounted a fresh roll

with the paper going over the top,

as God intended.

You are free now.

Go.