Fly-tipping

Craig Dobson

On the edge
of the road, beside 
the spring-flowering hedge:
two full bin bags, one broken chair, 
a dented lamp shade stained on one side, 
three chipped, gloss-painted lengths of dado rail,
a nest of electric wire, a chocolate tub’s gutted kaleidoscope,
crisp packets, a torn tracksuit top, juice cartons, one undented lager can.

Having dumped these, I close the boot, open the driver’s door and scoop out
tissues, sweet wrappers, one recyclable coffee cup, 
a flyer, pay and display tickets by the score. 
One last interior inspection, then
I drive away, leaving my 
rear-view to deal with 
any reflection.   

The Science

As evidenced by the BBC programme Countryfile Shocking extent of fly-tipping revealed in latest Countryfile episode | Countryfile.comlast year, fly-tipping is on the increase. This contributes further to the degradation of our environment’s ecological situation and is treated as an offence. However, the poem attempts to lessen the gap between the ‘us’ of concerned citizens and the ‘them’ of criminal fly-tippers. Instead, by marginalising the criminal element, it suggests how all of our existential material byproducts share some of the guilt for why fly-tipping exists. Our desire for more ‘stuff’ and our willingness to dump it so soon after acquiring it is really at the heart of the problem. The pollution of our beautiful – and only – home, is as much a shared responsibility as a shared shame. Our dumped litter, swarming like the flies its crime name suggests, hangs accusingly round all our heads.

The Poet

Craig Dobson has had poetry and short fiction published in magazines in the UK, Europe, US and Asia. He’s working on a collection of environmentally themed poetry. He lives and works in the UK.

Next poem: if not for the persistent car noises that I hate by Alec H Clark