Cans chatter
Bottles shatter
Chorusing recycling truck's
Whining hydraulics.

RECYCLING

Wonderkid of our wasteful, western  world,
Political balm on our conscience  hurled,
Juggernaught mending man's wild onslaught,
At a cost that's draining from budgets distraught.

Can it displace society's broom
That sweeps our garbage into a tomb
(At no cost - incentives lost)
Leaving it leaking or belching its fume?
That's a stinky heirloom for our kids to exhume!

Long gone and forgotten; our rag, bone and bottle man
Now found only at Smoky Mountain
Where social programs don't compete
'Gainst mans struggle the odds to beat.

These humble people go scavenging
With their carts  on rounds collecting
And plastic bags their kids a' washing;
Not a penny from the public purse
They find the value in what we curse.

Our programs 'most lost due to high cost
Our values by debts are now bossed
Before the collapse, or immoral relapse
Undo mental jamb, try program amalgam.
Robert Innes, Toronto.      6/96