Waste Not Want Not Poem by Joe Rosochacki

Who will take charge
Of the cargo of this barge?
The “Break of Dawn” on an early morn a particular day,
Was to move the
“Mobro” to a place far away.
Was it gold or jewels, a freight of special value?
Was it’s cargo to be benevolent, well appraised and true?
Who knew?
Islip, Islip, New York why did you initiate the trip?
The gifts of your society: a rather smelly variety,
Who would secure your manure?
The boat set sail for the Carolina in the North,
The barge bore putrid trash and the fragrance it spewed forth.
To be used as a producer of methane?
Conservationists said “Insane.”
To “Break of Dawn” bad news, we refuse your refuse.
States numbered four with similar responses in store,
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
And there were more than that who would not let you dock with ease,
Mexico, Bahamas, and the country of Belize.
After six thousand miles and one hundred eighty days,
You returned to where you began with a wasteful trip,
Back to your home sweet home in Islip.
Where did your cargo go? What became of the trash?
It went to a New York incinerator and became four hundred tons of ash.
Such a pity, neither state, country, or city at any time,
-any date would accept your freight.
After all what do they want? To be clean? Unpolluted?
Clear of contamination? ------Such a waste.
They obviously don’t have good taste.

(11-1987)