“The Drawer of the Doomed (but Maybe Useful) Cords”

(An Unexpected Tribute in Rhyme)

Beneath the socks and birthday wrap,
Lies tech’s forgotten maps,
A drawer of cords long and curled,
The chaos hub of a modern world.

A jungle dense with wire and plug,
Each one a twist, coil and shrug.
Some old, some new, some just bizarre,
Like relics from a USB market.

A cable once from Dad’s old phone,
Now orphaned frayed and all alone.
A charger that lit up your drone,
Until it flew into the unknown.

A mystery cord black, short and flat,
We all keep one… what is that?
An HDMI with golden tips,
Tied in knots like licorice whips.

Some speak of ports we’ve never seen,
Of gadgets lost in time’s machine.
Firewire? Mini B? Oh no"
It’s like a museum in retro flow.

Why toss them out? What if, one day,
A lost device comes back to play?
And you, the hero, find the cord,
And tech is saved! And joy restored!

You puff your chest, “I knew it’d fit!”
While everyone else just rolls and sits.
They mocked your drawer"“It’s junk! It’s trash!”
But now it’s earned its grandest flash.

So here's to cables, random, bold,
To things we keep but never hold.
To that one wire from twenty-ten,
That might be useful once again.

For in this mess, we keep our past"
In ports and plugs that didn’t last.
Yet deep inside, we all adore…
That sacred, tangled, tech junk drawer.

Reviews

[ETERNITY]

Hi Neha agrawal. This really hit home! "Do not throw anything away! Everything has a purpose!"
But you can call a consignment store to come and haul out everything.
It is a nightmare to try to sort out many decades of "sentimental" cr*p.
Good provocative write!

[Neha agrawal]

Thanks so much! Haha yes — it’s all “treasure” until someone else has to lift it!
We have no such stores in India as far as I know.

[carl]

I found this one to be humorous but also meaningful as I have recently organizing multiple drawers in the garage and couldn't help but think - My kids are going to be so irritated that I have kept all this stuff and when I am gone they have to figure out what to do with it all. A dear older friend of ours passed away about a year ago and it was a nightmare to go through all the stuff she had saved throughout her life - carl

[Neha agrawal]

Totally get that, Carl. It’s funny how organizing turns into a little life reflection.

[Amanda Renee]

What a great narrative poem! I especially liked the last four lines and how they rapped up the sentiment of your writing. Thank you for sharing!

[Neha agrawal]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm really glad the last four lines resonated with you — I hoped they'd tie everything together with a lasting feeling. I appreciate you taking the time to read and share your thoughts!