LITTER

Do you know the word LITTER? What does it mean? Do you know any other words with more or less the same meaning?

Well, LITTER means rubbish carelessly dropped or left about (especially in public places) but there are some more words to refer to worthless material that is to be disposed of: garbage, trash, scrap, waste,...

Following my last posting on PLP (Projecto Limpar Portugal) I picked up a poem by one of my favourite writers - this time reggae poet LEVI TAFARI - that I would like to share with you:

“Well hello everybody

How do you do?

I wanna introduce
myself to you!
My name is LITTER
I dwell in the gutter
I’m comprised of glass,
wood, metal and paper
I’m getting larger
hour after hour
you’ll find me lurking
in your area.”
“I move around the city
I make it untidy
to human beings
I’m really unhealthy
I’m not very pretty
in fact I’m quite ugly
some people even say
I’m real dirty
so I do what I can
to upset man
I’m unpopular
I’m not part of this plan
a menace to society
I’m very naughty
like poison
I’m quite deadly
vermin love me
I make them feel secure
I’m produced by the rich
thrown out by the poor
I’ve been around
a really long time
even though you’ve made
dropping me a crime
and if you think I’m rough
you ain’t seen nothing yet
I’ll get up to your neck
and make you sweat
this is a promise
it is not a threat
yes you can call me names
say I’m no good
but it won’t stop me

messing up your neighbourhood.”

“Because

I’m LITTER

from the gutter

and my mission

is to make you SUFFER.”

LITTER, by Levi Tafari (Rhyme don’t pay, Headland 1999 – pages 51+52)

Too much litter is, indeed, what is leading people from all over the country to join their efforts for a common goal as PLP. In a straight forward language, Levi Tafari deals here with a topic that is on top of the agenda and a must for teachers who are currently teaching "The world around us" since the poem can be used to talk about consumer habits, threats to the environment, attitudes,...
I hope you enjoy the poem / Levi's writing as much as I do :)