Garbage Day - Jan 12 2023

 

Garbage Day

Jan 12 2023

Garbage day.

Containers

in all their permutations

out by the street;

green plastic bins

and dented aluminum,

tall fancy ones

on nifty wheels.

Some tipped, where dogs got at them,

and others where clever raccoons

deftly removed the lids.

Garbage, spilling out and scattered,

gulls swooping in.

And there must surly be rats,

scurrying boldly about in the dark

surreptitious during the day.

Big fat Norwegians,

who we not only find repulsive

but are too much like us for comfort,

opportunistic creatures

who have followed in our footsteps

as we colonized the world.

As well as a good time for skunks,

another nocturnal animal

we naturally recoil from.

The master of chemical warfare

defiantly standing its ground.

Which is when the dog slunk in,

tail down, ears flat

stinking to high heaven.

A garbage hound

who got her just comeuppance,

and will now spend the night in the yard

contemplating her sins

and futilely licking herself.

And then the morning after.

When the big yellow truck

is completing its usual rounds,

rattling down

street after street

making stop after stop,

waking the neighbours

with its grinding gears and squealing brakes.

And in its wake

a trail of empty bins

scattered haphazardly

out by the curb.

The wildlife,

who will patiently bide their time

until the next free buffet.

And our week's worth of garbage;

out of sight, out of mind

no longer our concern.