To the Editor:
It was a really hot day
but I wanted to ride,
so I waited till it was
less than 30 outside.
I strapped on my helmet,
a headphone in each ear,
put both lights on flash mode,
white in front, red in rear.
I headed south down the highway
past King Miner, and Seal Road,
and knew at first glance
there’d been no tarp on the load.
The ditches were littered
with bits of this, chunks of that,
plastic and wood,
two gloves and one hat.
Part of a tarp,
a styrofoam cooler,
insulation and blankets,
and the last half of a ruler.
By now I had passed
Hydro roads one and two.
I saw one little pink boot
and one big black shoe.
Lots of TP and Kleenex,
a Coke bottle of pee,
And too many coffee cups
from Tim’s and McD’s.
As the haulage road neared
I pedalled faster.
The ditches beside me
were such a disaster.
I spied pliers and siding,
queen mattress remains
and layers of cardboard
swollen by rains.
An entire microwave
lay on its face.
As I passed Birchtree road
I continue to race.
There were four gallon buckets,
a four-litre pail,
another bottle of urine,
tossed by a male.
Thicket Portage was posted
and Pikwitonei,
on the next sign I passed
but you can’t drive there in May.
Pieces of plywood,
some used and some new,
and a long-handled thingy
that scrapes snow off your roof.
Onward and upward,
South out of town,
I arrived at the dump
with the sun going down.
Across from the dump,
caught in the trees,
white plastic bags
waved in the breeze.
I turned back towards town,
heading north and north east,
and the amount of the garbage
began to decrease.
A little brown teddy
with a little red vest,
once loved by a child,
on the shoulder now rests.
And then came a pink bear,
muddy and torn,
lying upside-down,
looking sadly forlorn.
Now not all of this stuff
flew off a truck box,
some of the stuff
people just tossed.
As I rode past King Miner,
the area pristine,
I knew what could happen
if we worked as a team.
So take your crap with you,
don’t toss it aside.
This is your city.
It’s your home, have some pride.
Katherine McCallum
Thompson
