Sunday, March 25, 2012

Garbage Truck


After much deliberation, I've decided simply to post this poem, and see what you folks might make of it - without my guidance. Consider the title, the speaker (we call the narrator of a poem, the speaker) the images throughout, etc. Have at it ladies and gentlemen; I am eager to see what you have to say.


Garbage Truck

by Michael Ryan

Once I had two strong young men hanging off my butt
and a distinctive stink that announced
when I was inching down your street
at the regal, elephantine pace
that let my men step down from me running
to heave your garbage into my gut
then fling the clanging metal cans
to tumble and rumble, crash and leap
back to sort-of-where you'd lugged them to the curb
before another oblivious night of sleep.
Did you think life was tough?
I reveled in it, all the stuff
you threw out, used up, let rot,
the pretty packaging, the scum, the snot,
vomit and filth, everything you thought
useless, dangerous, or repugnant:
I ate it for breakfast. I hauled it
out of sight. And what did I get?
You were annoyed by my noise.
You coughed at my exhaust.
Your kids stopped playing in the street
to pinch their noses and gag theatrically
with no clue how sick they'd be without me.
I was the lowest of the low, an untouchable,
yet I did what I did and did it well.
Now I am not laughable: a "waste management vehicle"
denatured robotic sanitized presentable.
My strong young men are gone. I have no smell.
I'm painted deep green to look organic and clean.
Your "residential trash carts" are matching green
injection-molded high-density polyethylene
that barely thuds when I lower them to the ground
after I've stabbed and lifted and upended them
with twin prongs that retract into my side
so not to scratch anything or scare anyone.
Who can complain? Right there on your street
I mash and compact and obliterate your waste.
You need never give it a second thought.
It's safe it's easy nobody gets dirty.
It's how you want your life to be.
But life's not garbage. Garbage is life.
Look what you've got. Look what you throw out.

26 comments:

Mariana Maeda said...

Well, first of all, it’s very obvious that the speaker is a garbage truck.
I feel bad for the truck at the beginning because people are disgusted by it, even though it didn’t do anything to deserve that treatment. In a way, I think that one of the messages that can be taken form this poem is that one should not judge a book by its cover, or its smell. Because, like the garbage truck, the book might turn out to be deep and be able to say deep things like: “. . . life's not garbage. Garbage is life. . . “

Angelina Corbett said...

I agree with Mariana. The Garbage truck makes me feel bad for it in the beginning. It's like he has no friends :( I dont remember who said it, but I remember someone telling me that every job has it's honor. This poem shows how important a garbage truck is, as funny as it sounds. Although no one wants to really be a garbageman, without it the whole place would be disgusting.
I dont understand the really deep meaning of this poem yet. Obviously there is more to it, but I dont understand what the author is saying when they say " Garbage is life"

Angelina Corbett said...

Mariana,
You said that the book turned out to be able to say deep things like " ...life's garbage. Garbage is life..." does that mean you know what it means? I am just wondering if I am the only one confused by this.

Hollis Zecca said...

When I read the poem I realized that the speaker was a garbage truck. I felt for the truck because it did such an important job, but everyone else didnt't see it that way. If it wasn't for the garbage truck then we would either be living in our own trash, or have to bring our garbage to the dump (and we all know that people are too lazy to do that). This poem I think is trying to say that even the lowest of the jobs is important. Some people may think that being a garbage man, or a janitor might be an awful job to have. But what they don't realize is without these men and women we wouldn't have clean hallways or classrooms; or have someone to take our trash away from us so we don't get sick or have to live with it.

Hollis Zecca said...

Ange,
Don't worry you aren't the only one who's confused about this poem. I tried to say what I thought it was but I'm not sure if it's even remotly close to what the poem really means.

Mr. D- said...

Hollis,

Do you really think that your classmates or I know any better than you do what this poem means? It may be enough simply to enjoy the poem - or not.

If you think the poem has meaning beyond the literal, then try to prove it. You make very astute observations when you want to do so, and the only thing you've ever lacked is confidence. Have at it, and see what happens. Please, don't be afraid to voice an idea. We all benefit.

That having been said ... if you (or your classmates) think the poem has a metaphoric or symbolic meaning, then prove it. Remember, it isn't just WHAT the poem means ... it is also HOW the poem means. Is the garbage truck used as a metaphor for something else?

Abby Maiello said...

I agree with Mariana when she says "I think that one of the messages that can be taken form this poem is that one should not judge a book by its cover, or its smell." Adding to this i believe that you should never overlook the little things. Without that truck, there would be garbage everywhere. The truck will come weekly and take your garbage. This becomes a routine, soon it becomes automatic to bring your garbage out.

Another point I believe this poem is trying to make is the determination of garbage. What is garbage? Everything you put in your garbage you have bought and you have used. If it is garbage, why buy it?

Finally the third point i believe to be made is the usage of modern technology. The changes that the world is taking. Unemployment is up due to better technology. These new machine is safer, and cleaner, but the garbage still goes to the same place. How clean and safe is it?

I may have gone off on a tangent, but just wanted to throw some ideas out there!

Abby Maiello said...

To Ange and Hollis,

"...life's not garbage. Garbage is life..." to me means everything is the same. Couldn't this also go with the saying "one man's garbage is another man's treasure?"

Jarrett said...

The speaker here is obviously a garbage truck, rather fitting i think. I like how Ryan used personification to justify and glorify garbage trucks and their workers. It is very true that without them, our lives would be filled with filth and smells, and this poem makes the reader realize just how important waste management workers and vehicles really are. They all deserve our respect for doing a job that is not so glamorous but an absolute necessary. I thought of the show "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Rowe when i first read this poem because he does the jobs that we as everyday people wouldnt want or dont even realize exist. There is a very powerful message in this and i like it a lot.

Mariana Maeda said...

Angelina,
I’m not sure if I really know what it means myself or if I’m completely wrong, but that line just stood out to me as being something with a hidden meaning.

“. . . life's not garbage. Garbage is life. Look what you've got. Look what you throw out,” to me, means that we make up our lives with the objects around us, we buy them, use them, and throw them out when they’re no longer useful (as is mentioned by Abby). But, why buy them if we are just going to throw them out and make them garbage? The reason being: we need those things, some more than others, some we don’t actually NEED, we just say we do. Don’t most things we have eventually lose their usefulness to us and so becoming our garbage? Like batteries, food, clothing, etc. So then wouldn’t it be fair to say that garbage is our life? Because technically, the batteries that I’m currently using will run out of “power” and will be moved into the garbage category, so then can’t they be considered trash now? If one thing will be called a name in the future, can’t it be referred to by that name now? It’s the same object right? It’s not like it’s changing just because it’s being referred to by a different name. Right? I mean, think of me, we see each other in school, in class, you recognize me, correct? My name is Mariana. If I for some reason decide to change my name to . . . I don’t know, let’s say, Jane, wouldn’t I still be myself, just with a different name? I don’t change, just my name does. I am myself no matter if I’m referred to as Mariana or Jane. So can’t garbage be our lives? Does that make sense or am I just crazy? 
I feel like I’m rambling so I’m going to stop and take a break from reading things by Albert Camus for a bit(he’s messing with my head with his questioning of life).

Nina Fusco said...

Like many of my fellow students, I too know that the speaker is the garbage truck.

The truck dealt with the hardest of our hard times. "I reveled in it, all the stuff you threw out, used up....the scum, the snot, the vomit and filth..." The truck "ate" all of these things for breakfast to protect us, yet we judged it, hated on it. Now we have made it more refined, to hide our own awfulness.

Nina Fusco said...

Hollis and Ange,
About "...life's not garbage. Garbage is life." I think it means that our garbage tells the dark or hidden parts of our life. Life without truth isn't life. And garbage points out our faults and flaws, our failures and stumbling blocks.

I'm just shooting in the dark here.

Aliah Joslin said...

Well thank god garbage trucks don't really have feelings. I still felt bad for the garbage truck because it felt unappreciated. I think that the poem is saying that everything has a purpose. People say things like "your going to be flipping burgers at mcdonalds someday," but if that person wasn't there flipping burgers yuo wouldn't have anything to eat. Everyone from doctors and lawyers to teachers, to the people who clean the puke off the rides at amusement parks have a purpose that they fulfill. The purpose should't matter, all that should matter is that there is a purpose.

Aliah Joslin said...

Abby, I don't think your tangent is too far out there. I think the question "what is garbage?" can be brought up by the poem. The saying one man's trash is another man's treasure now comes to mind. I don't think that question can be answered

Angelina Corbett said...

Nina and Mariana,
I think that those statements are reallly good. These questions make my head hurt :(

Mr. D- said...

"What is garbage?" ... indeed, Abby. Indeed. No better question to ask.

"The truck "ate" all of these things for breakfast to protect us, yet we judged it, hated on it. Now we have made it more refined, to hide our own awfulness." ... Wow Nina. Have you any idea just how astute this statement is?

Here's a challenge for everyone. Forget the title of the poem, and the imagery that is garbage truck specific and strewn throughout. Can anyone think of another word with which we could title the poem that would keep the essential message intact?

Sophie said...

When I first started reading this poem I was like wow I feel bad for this guy...then I realized that the garbage truck used to have a rough life. I think an important message we can take from this is to not take everything for granted. We should be grateful for the thing given to us that make out life easier, and the garbage truck wants us to appreciate him.
Aliah you had a good point that everyone does have a purpose. I think we should always find a good point in something we might often find useless.

Mariana Maeda said...

I think I would title it "The Ingrates" because I can't think of a better word to describe horrible people who don't realize you're doing them a favor and who treat you with disdain instead of respect.

Abby Maiello said...

"The Things Forgotten." I think this would be a good title because our "garbage" are things we forget and don't want. However, our "garbage is what the truck wants.

Katie Carola said...

So obviously the spaeker is a garbage truck. The poem to me means that everything has its purpose and you shouldn't judge things by the way they look or smell.

Collin Stangle said...

I love that the speaker in this poem is a garbage truck. It really made me rethink some of the ideas I had as a child about garbage trucks and garbage men. I also like that so many of the images are extremely true.
"...then fling the clanging metal cans/
to tumble and rumble, crash and leap/
back to sort-of-where you'd lugged them to the curb..."
This quote from the poem brings back memories of garbage cans being haphazardly placed on the curb or knocked over.

This poem also made me realize how the garbage "industry" has changed. I never realized that garbage trucks have turned into a quiet, sanitized business, since I'm usually sleeping when they come to get the garbage. This poem made the modern idea of garbage more relevant.

Collin Stangle said...

Abby,
I really love that you titled the poem "The Things Forgotten." I think it's a great name because even though it doesn't mention a garbage truck, it really accentuates the idea that we have forgotten.

Deanna Soucie said...

I think he is a sad garbage truck. He says things very crudely and with a very tough speech, but deep down I think he just wants people to love and accept him for what he is. Even though people don't run from his noise and stink anymore, he knows that if they took of his nice green paint and fancy name, everyone would hate him again. So I think we should all go give a garbage truck a hug, but I won't because they scare me.

Deanna Soucie said...

Nina,
I liked what you said about how "we have made [the garbage truck] more refined, to hide our own awfulness", I thought it was very insightful.

Nina Fusco said...

How about "My Attic"? I'm not sure if it's the right noun I want to use, but that's where we keep all of our junk that we're too ashamed to throw out or too lazy to go through.

Brooke W said...

The comment about how the kids stick their tongues out and plug their noses because it smells, and the truck comes back and says they have no idea how sick they'd be without me, gets me thinking of what it would be like in the future..like what if we didn't have garbage trucks and we keep piling things into landfills. We could seriously get sick and pollute the planet, it's stuff like this that we should be greatful for.