Bin it
Poem: Bin it
Let’s face it
You’re not going to get a prize or any gold stars!
A choice of your favourite from a fleet of modern cars?
All you did was to put the bins out!
Recycle that thought
I think that you ought
Review: Bin it
Who is it that the poet is speaking to?
It sounds as though they live with the person who’s ‘job’ it is to put out the bins. A flat share maybe? A family? To me it sounds like it could be a sibling. The poet is criticising the person who’s tasked with putting out the bins. I’m imagining that it is an older sister who’s speaking to a younger brother? Would he be ‘rewarded’ with treats or gifts from a ‘time poor mother” or a ‘time poor father’? I get that!
If the money is there to treat the child and to make the cogs of running a household run easier, then that would be done wouldn’t it? This imaginary boy sibling I’ve created is learning how to manipulate and negotiate to gain what they want. I bet he uses charm too and has managed to get a couple of nintendo’s and a pair of football boots just by doing things like emptying the dishwasher, vacuuming, and wiping a few surfaces here and there. These things don’t magically get done. Not everyone has staff. Usually, from what I’ve seen and experienced it is parents, grandparents and the self! The dishwasher fairy certainly doesn’t visit my home. I wish that they did!. Life isn’t about expecting to be rewarded for completing mandatory daily tasks!
“Gold stars” sounds hilarious in this context of being rewarded.
A car sounds just as funny!
It’s not a junior school or a date with nostalgia and nor is it a gameshow!
What do points make? That’s right dear reader – prizes! Woo hoo!
I digress dear reader , I apolgise. I was beginning to be hit with a 1980’s bit of nostalgia. That is not an exciting era for me from my experience as a child. It was very grey. Power shortages. (get the candles out). Fear on the streets if a bomb was to explode? Dog poop on the pavements, Royal weddings, Page 3 models, Thatcher this and Thatcher that. Crimewatch! Scary times and the flippin’ presenter would say at the end of the show, “Don’t have nightmares” Dear reader what do you think I would say to that? I don’t think you’d need to think too hard as to what my response would be. YES I’d say to your thought on that and you’d be right!
Thank goodness there were also entertainers on T.V. (One or two dodgy ones sure) but true entertainers like Bruce Forsyth, Cilla Black and Lenny Henry brought in a balance of fun thankfully. (I was a kid, remember)
Anyway, I apologise for taking you to my 1980’s. I’ll never understand why it inspired any fashion revival? Oversized shoulder pads and hairsprayed to death stiff hair with leotards and ugly denim. Come off it! What I normally say in my review’s dear reader, (call it a catchphrase if you like is, ‘that’s another story for another time’ But NO, not this time around. It is gone and can stay gone!
When the poet says
“To recycle that thought?
I think that you ought”
Does it then mean to recycle and apply the thought process to others in life to get those gold stars or equivalent? Oh, my I’m thinking too much about this one here!
I personally would say “bin in for good, I think that you should”
The 1980’s. Never recycle any of it
Bin It, as the poet says with the title, and so do I in 2026!
Reading the poem has taken me down a path I was not at all expecting
But I enjoyed the ride! A good clean poem. Keep Britain tidy and all that!