the big blue garbage truck by Kristina Woodhill the big blue garbage truck rumbles down our dirt lane every Thursday morning between 7:30 and 8:00 o'clock it has a big blue stomach and blue metal mandibles that squeal like a pig when they open the big blue mouth and squeal like a pig crunching bone as they slowly close tight there is a little man who sits inside its head and gets to be its eyes and looks and looks all through this little town to find offerings to feed the loud rumbling stomach there is another little man who rides inside its head and leaps outside the truck to herd offered food inside the huge hungry mouth the little man helps open wide eyes in front mouth in back stomach in the middle that's where they're at all houses put large offerings for the big blue garbage truck a safe distance outside their meager doors no house wants a big blue truck rummaging through small kitchens or garages taking big blue bites neighbors keep watch on Thursdays little eyes in little people make sure every house has an offering no house wants a big blue truck waiting outside the neighbor's house pawing and scraping through a perfectly good green lawn while it waits and beeps its loud hungry horn cats run to back doors on Thursday mornings scratching to get inside this Thursday morning growling is much louder than their small cat growls and must belong to a fierce stronger cat eyes in the front mouth in the back stomach in the middle feeds well on our fat later Thursday morning cats sense the still air scratching to go outside soon hunting down field mice or inexperienced birds wings do not mean freedom four feet do not mean fast two feet do not mean forward or up magpies perform Thursday clean-up duties in the fields mice heads or uneaten mice toys are plucked from the ground teasing low flying cats as a lazy afternoon game cat ears remain alert whiskers test possible paths late Thursday morning or later Thursday evening little people scurry from their meager front doors push or pull their emptied garbage bins back to their utility areas outside each meager back door there really is no time to lose six silent days soon slip by....... 02/05/2009 Posted on 02/05/2009 Copyright © 2025 Kristina Woodhill Member Comments on this Poem Posted by Elizabeth Jill on 02/06/09 at 12:00 AM I enjoy this poem, Ms. Kristina. Safe in the nook of my porch, I peek (spy?) on the little man in its head and ponder how he keeps clear of the enormous mouth! Posted by Steven Kenworthy on 02/06/09 at 05:44 AM this truck has life. how some people can be so imaginative to turn such a machine into such a being is incredible to me. you're the expert of your own style that's for sure...i couldn't see another whipping this up and painting the blue image so richly. the mandibles...what a raw image. not sewage-y, just raw ;p Posted by JD Clay on 02/06/09 at 11:01 PM I'd like to say this is rubbish but you've turned it into gold. Your big blue truck has voracious cousins in my neighborhood that are big and green. They must be related because it squeals and groans the same way yours does. I can't help wonder if they smell the same too, hehe!! Good stuff, Kristina! Posted by Carolyn Coville on 02/08/09 at 05:40 AM how clever! I especially like the thought of garbage as being "the offerings" for the truck. Return to the Previous Page   pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online All works Copyright © 2025 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)