Waste

For the days we miss door-to-door waste collection

We don’t know what to do

With all that we’re producing

Consuming and wasting 

Seeking collectors 

Someone

Almost anyone 

To do something 

With all that we've got

With all the mess we’ve made   

Of no value 

Or of lesser value than 

The price of use  

Are we all just a little too late 

Will the truck pass us by  

Because we couldn’t show up on time

How are we entitled to such luxury anyway?

Will what I missed out on giving away today 

Decompose just the same

If it could wait till tomorrow 

We’re tired and hurting 

And things throw us of our usual schedule 

And on some days 

Beyond our reach

A service we can’t guarantee 

For either my neighbour or for myself 

A service so close yet so far away 

A collectors’ item of decay and the non-renewable 

Perhaps adding 

Just a little more value to their livelihood 

Do we do everyone a favour 

If we hold onto our stuff  

A little longer 

Because what’s not built to last 

From our past days

Is rotting away as we speak 

Is passing through hands 

That are just like yours and mine 

Are we too proud 

To hold onto and to work through 

Our unsustainable purchases 

Are we inconvenienced by the change in  schedule today 

Oh the fallen nature of our goods 

That we can’t help but need someone 

To take it away 

Regularly 

At around the same time each day 

Only because there’s so much 

And we have no other options 

In this little house we’ve made a home