A $4.99 Costco rotisserie chicken, a plastic lawn flamingo, personal injury lawyer advertisements, a sad desk salad, a red Solo cup, a “Live, Laugh, Love” sign, a gas station bathroom key, and Botox are among the list of twenty-five objects in Emily Keegin’s recent New York Times piece “Welcome to My Museum of America,” a hypothetical museum showcasing Americanness. What are the relics you feel exemplify what it means to be an American living in contemporary society? This week write a poem exploring several objects that you would put in such a museum. Pick your objects carefully, reflecting on how each one might encapsulate something significant or insightful about the nation’s history, priorities, values, and habits. Select a diverse range of objects so that you can experiment with humor and fluctuations in tone.
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