Washing Water Bottles in the Park

like flowers in the park,
all colors; red, green, blue,
white, yellow and magenta
they stood in rows lined up like soldiers
waiting to dive into cleansing
waters, then drying like sunbathers
only to be stacked in cardboard
boxes, hoarded away until next
spring when flowers bloom
in reds, greens, blues and white,
bike racers flinging them into
fields fresh with the new growth
of spring.

One of the chores following a bike race (when you are the sponsor) is cleaning bike bottles to store for next year.  We washed about 700 bottles in this session, and recycled about 300.  Next year we have to make sure there are more than 3 1/2 of us to do this!