The first time I ever looked into a cemetery trash barrel I felt guilty, like I was intruding on something I didn’t need to know about.

And maybe I was.

But I still do look inside of them. This one that I saw the other day in Oklahoma made me sad: all that’s left of someone’s birthday wishes to their beloved, deceased person was an R and an I. That’s not much, is it?

Mountain View Cemetery
Mountain View, Oklahoma
photographed 4.25.2026