Rubbish Poem

[harry hayes]

OR-DEALS ON WHEELS

 

The council once emptied dustbins,

From hassle quite immune;

The rate-payer paid the piper,

Who played a gentle tune.

 

Once a week, regardless,

Up and down your path they'd go;

Perchance disturb your slumber,

Oft times you'd never know.

 

"Let's add wheels and make it larger,

Save collecting once a week;"

Fetch and carry now no longer,

One admires their ruddy cheek.

 

Say "green" or "global warming",

An excuse for bins on bin;

Customers can do the sorting,

E.U. rules are rushing in.

 

Confuse him when we're coming,

Which day, or even date;

Don't put the bin out early,

Or leave it out too late.

 

There's even talk of slop bins,

A computerised container top;

How much waste still goes to landfill?

When will the nonsense stop?

 

Some change of course was needed,

Gentler touch would fit the bill;

The servant is now our master,

Most surely overkill.

 

In all things there's a balance,

Perchance it's swung too far;

Common sense seems most un-common,

The genie's left the jar.

 

Happy days

[Evil Sid]

like it

[Jerry]

I agree with Sid. I like the beautiful narrative, rhythm, rhyme, story. Beauty.

 

My the way in Los Angeles we have 3 bins to put out, one for recycling, one for yard trimmings, and one for garbage.

 

In 1997 when I was in Korea a law was passed requiring about a dozen different bins - but I don't think it was accepted to this day. There were several bins for plastics depending on their previous contents, their form of plastic, etc. I couldn't decipher the Korean Han-gul writing so I put all the plastics in one bag and it was delivered back to my doorstep next morning. They figured out who the person was that couldn't read, I suppose.

[Mary]

Great poem Harry!!!

[harry hayes]

thank you folks for the replies, much appreciated. Jerry, I was in korea in 1951 - certainly don't remember many dust-bins then.

 

The following little poem caught my eye. Not one of mine - william Walton.

 

 

A mothers lament

 

There were very few casualties, they said,

Our losses they said were small;

"In taking a strategic position,

What's fifty after all?"

 

One was my son, my only son -

All that I had at all;

And I must go on , alone, alone,

But our losses they said, were small.

 

 

Happy days

[Jerry]

So you might have met Michael Caine in Korea in 1951. Except his name was Mikelwhite or something. I was too young (at 14) to enlist.

If you visit Korea today you'll see memorial plaques in many places honoring various UN countries. You saved a lot of beautiful people from Kim, Il-Sung and Kim-Jong-il.

 

Good words by William Walton. Terrific war memorial poems over on the Gunga Din site.