Athena Thomas, An Ode to Garbage

Athena Thomas

8:37 AM: I’ve thrown away five things,

a Maggi noodle wrapper from breakfast a pen that’s run out of ink a dead battery a can from last night a wipe to sanitize

Plastic takes a thousand years to decompose; all the websites say so.

1000 years for a wrapper 500 for a pen 100 years for a battery 250 for a sprite 100 for a wipe

Exponentially growing landfill in developing country. Like me, this trash will traverse land and sea,

1000 years for a quick meal 500 to fill a few pages 100 to power my remote 250 to sip a drink 100 to clean a stain

My trash, you will outlast me, Though I can’t grasp such numbers,

How easy it is to commit a crime, How sprawling and invisible the sentence, How long the consequences last, How much harder to undo.

Who is to blame? Corporations are greenwashing, People rushing to ethical consumption.

Ubiquitous names mediate our lives:

Nestlé noodles Laknock pens Energizer cells Coca-Cola cans Clorox wipes

A system built to generate refuse, We’re capitalistically conditioned, falling into misinformation, Companies too big to fail.

Crinkled foil, chocolate bar, afternoon snack, open backpack, shiny black pen, fresh can of soda, new wipes, soymilk Tetra pak

Climate emergency smoking on the backburner, Time decomposes.