MAESTRO, PLEASE
A Symphony of Refuse
Thank God it's trash day

the inharmonious sound the repugnant smell a trash truck on center stage in the morning haze a discordant symphony virtuosos in overalls a conductor with greasy fingers Bach, Beethoven, or Tchaikovsky discarded animal or vegetable matter garbage, refuse, or trash neatly piled by the curb compacted, minimized, and smashed recyclables collected on Wednesdays pick 'em up and throw 'em down an orchestra with a disagreeable tune tempo set and the mechanical arm extends like a Rock' Em Sock' Em Robot Hoyer-lifting a dumpster with a flapping lid into a wild crescendo as the notes fall into the well wheels that run over bottle tops crunch milk cartons, smash aluminum cans — and finally, the plastic bins are empty the concerto is over the opera singer has died and onto the next movement the mobile symphony rides.
© 2024 Mark Tulin
Note of Appreciation: Without the trash truck's amazing hydraulic system and the brave men and women who arm it, our neighborhoods would look like burnt-out Dresden. I wish we could lighten their load, consume less, and have a smaller global footprint. Maybe then, our planet wouldn't be so farkakte (Yiddish for fucked-up).
Here's another funny doodle by Mark:
