Living in Filth

By: JoJo Ball

I look around my room and notice that

I’m surrounded by the left over heaps

of useless junk that has accumulated

over only a few days of living.

There’s trash everywhere and yet an empty trash can

Walking to class through the littered streets full

of the ignorant residual crap

left over by the uneducated

citizens with nothing but the best of

intentions, when there’s an empty trash can

The new sign at my favorite place to swim

advises not to enter the water

because it’s unsanitary to do so.

My dog swims out to get an old pop can

left when there’s a trash can up the trail.

The haze that lingers over the city

can be seen from anywhere I go.

The polluted atmosphere suffocates

whatever trees that still stand while the

others have been disposed of into trash cans.

I think it’s about time to clean this mess.

It starts with the trash in my room today,

maybe less litter in the street tomorrow

can take away the sign by next week

and clear the haze above the city someday.