AFSCME 3090

Junk

An axe angles
From my neighbor’s ashcan;
It is hell’s handiwork      
the wood not hickory,
The flow of the grain
not faithfully followed.
The shivered shaft
rises from a shellheap
Of plastic playthings,
Paper plates,
And the sheer shards
Of shattered tumblers
That were not annealed
For the time needful.
At the same curbside,
A cast-off cabinet
Of wavily-warped
Unseasoned wood
Waits to be trundled
In the trash-man’s truck.
Haul them off! Hide them!
The heart winces
For junk and gimcrack,
for jerrybuilt things
And the men who make them
for a little money,
Bartering pride
Like the bought boxer
Who pulls his punches
or the paid-off jockey
Who in the home stretch
holds in his horse
Yet the things themselves
in thoughtless honor
Have kept composure,
like captives who would not
Talk under torture.
Tossed from a tailgate
Where the dump displays
its random dolmens,
Its black barrows
and blazing valleys,
They shall waste in the weather
toward what they were.
The sun shall glory
in the glitter of glass-chips,
Foreseeing the salvage
of the prisoned sand,
And the blistering paint
peel off in patches,
That the good grain
be discovered again.
Then burnt, bulldozed,
they shall all be buried
To the depth of diamonds,
in the making dark
Where halt Hephaestus*
keeps his hammer
And Wayland’s work
is worn away.

*Hephaestus is the Greek god of fire and the forge.

It has been said that “poetry is a temporary escape from confusion.”

REMEMBER TO RECYCLE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE

The City of L.A. Bureau of Sanitation is expanding curbside collection for Christmas trees. If your Christmas tree is too big to cut and place it inside the green recycle bin, just place the tree right next to your green waste bin on collection day. Remember to remove all ornaments, and decorations, including the stand. Collected Christmas trees will be recycled into compost and mulch.

If you prefer to drop off your tree, the following website shows drop off locations:  http://www.lacitysan.org/tree-recycle.htm

An excellent way to start 2010, if you already haven’t done so, is to clean out your closets and cupboards to donate, sell, or recycle any items that no longer serve you. It’s a wonderful way to clear your space and get the energy flowing harmonically through your home.

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT

Be an example to your children, family, friends, and co-workers by being environmentally conscious. The following are some helpful reminders that make a difference in the environment:

• Turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth and/or shave. This saves gallons of water.
• The cardboard cylinder in a toilet paper roll is recyclable. Do not put in trashcan.
• Bring your own bags to various stores.
• Clean out your obsolete paper files at work. Shred any confidential material.
  
• Cut up and use paper that was printed on one side to make a note pad.
• Set your printer to print on both sides of the paper.
  
• Turn off unneeded light. Take advantage of natural light whenever possible.
• Install motion sensors for lights you forget to turn off – such as the garage or backyard. This will also provide added security.
  
• Unplug unnecessary appliances when not in use.
• Tighten up your home with weather-stripping, sealing, and caulking around windows and leaky doors. This will reduce your cooling and heating costs as well as save energy.
• Repair leaky toilets and faucets. In just one year, a sink leaking a single drop of water per second wastes 2,400 gallons and a leaky toilet wastes 22,000 gallons of water.
• Donate your e-waste. Donating old computers, CD players, cell phones, and laptops helps people in need. Check out EPA’s website at: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/donate.htm. Ebay also has a good site at: http://pages.ebay.com/rethink/ which links people that would like to donate and/or selling old technology with organizations in need of such technology. Lots of cities sponsor e-waste collection events as well.

Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2010! Let’s all join together in making environmentally and socially conscious choices regarding the food we eat, e.g. free-range meat as opposed to factory-farmed meat where non-union labor is utilized and the clothes we buy, e.g. faux fur as opposed to real fur. To put it simply, just being mindful of our actions.

-- Jeanette Argentin

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