Disscog - Dissonance

(via Ever Increasing - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon)

Ill Winds - prose by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Bjorn is hosting Prosery (144 words of prose) with an invitation to use a line from Leonard Cohen’s ‘You Want It Darker’ – “There’s a lullaby for suffering.” dVerse Poets – Prosery – Leonard Cohen Photo: decathlon.com “It’s dark often at these times.” Juliana Spahr Ill Winds When I’m hiking in winter I notice when I’m not moving my body temperature drops, hypothermia is a risk. The…

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The Measure - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: fountaintechpumps.com “Be grateful for whatever comes” Rumi The MeasureNonot by spoons of coffee,it's different nowcomputersemailsEVspond pumps,on averagefive years on the pumpssiftingfilteringbeing cleanedhow many make a life,how many till I go? Copyright 2025 ©️Paul Vincent CannonAll Rights Reserved ®️

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My Modern Met

Japan Has a Competitive Sport for Trash Collecting Called ‘SpoGomi'

There should be more sports like this!

Sports have gotten more and more environmentally friendly, whether it's by reducing plastic waste at arenas, or producing medals with recycled materials. But what if the sport itself was devoted to directly helping the planet? Take a look at SpoGomi, a competitive sport in which teams collect garbage and litter within a time limit and specified area. People get to exercise and improve their communities while simultaneously reducing pollution. It's an overall win!

The name “SpoGomi” comes from “sports” and “gomi,” which means “trash” in Japanese. SpoGomi was created in Japan in 2008 as a way to promote trash collecting in an effort to aid the environment and push back on the climate crisis. “The marine litter problem is becoming increasingly serious worldwide,” reads a message from SpoGomi. “Approximately 80% of the garbage in the ocean is said to come from land (cities), and picking up garbage is the ‘last line of defense' to prevent this from happening. By connecting countries and people, we have expanded our circle even further around the world.”

Now, supported by The Nippon Foundation, the sport is so popular that there are competitions around the world, including the first SpoGomi World Cup, which was held in Japan in November 2023. People from 20 countries and all of Japan's prefectures participated, with the UK team coming out in first place.

SpoGomi is more than simply picking up trash, though, as there's a whole set of rules. These game rules are flexible depending on the area and litter to be picked up. Generally, teams are made up of three to five members who have to collect as much trash as possible within a designated area and time limit. The most common duration is an hour for picking up trash plus another 20 minutes to correctly sort it.

Some trash can be extra damaging to the environment or harder to spot, meaning each piece of litter gets a different amount of points. According to Nippon.com, the rules for World Cup regional preliminary rounds have burnable and nonburnable trash at 10 points per 100 grams, cans and bottles at 12 points, and PET plastic bottles at 25 points. The crown jewel of competitive trash picking are cigarette butts, which will get the team 100 points each.

Other rules stipulate that teams cannot pick up trash that is already in bins that belong to someone else. Since everything must fit into the trash bags that are provided, they cannot pick hazardous waste or bulky items either. And since this is meant to improve the local area, any method of transportation other than walking is frowned upon.

In the end, all participants can bask in the pride of making the environment just a little bit cleaner and healthier. Udagawa Takayasu, a spokesperson for The Nippon Foundation, even admits, “I participated in a preliminary tournament held in Japan just last weekend. Although our team could not win and I faced frustration, the city became markedly cleaner. I think it's one of the fascinating aspects of SpoGomi, even if you don't win, it leaves you with a positive sentiment.”

-via My Modern Met, May 20, 2024

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Hell yeah, gamify this shit!

The Nightmare - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo by Duane Mendes on Unsplash “what is stronger than the human heart which shatters over and over and still lives” Rupi Kaur The NightmareThe unexpectedspeaking in subtle shiftschewing on thorns,a pebble in the shoethe wisdom of ageslike a trainwe muston occasion railagainst the sourceeven if in vain,the hand of chalkwalled in to wordsthat are mere dustwiped free beforemeaning evolvesin…

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The Long Haul - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Image by Simon from Pixabay “… the old revolutionary road breaks off into the shadows near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted who disappeared into these shadows.” Adrienne Rich The Long HaulWe set out one stifling summeralbeit and unbeknown, asNapoleon on a bent to Moscow,determined to climb the mountainpiton after piton of division, hateand everything that was a cruelpolluting…

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The Lightness Of Desire - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Laura is hosting Meeting The Bar with an invitation to write a Sparrowlet – Laura explains (and includes a link to our first foray in 2022 with Grace) And with this first MTB of February 2025 we are turning to an invented stanzaic form created by Kathrine Sparrow that she calls a variation of the Swap Quatrain. It was first prompted by Grace in 2022 namely the Sparrowlet:- Poetry…

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Seeking The Seed - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: ayers.com.au bushfire recovery “The dying of the trees goes on …” Philip Larkin Seeking The SeedCurious,though carrying less thannine lives Ientered the public buildingthe hall of ecological responses,covered in beautiful scriptsembossed on exquisite clothon every wallso beautiful the words Idesired to touch them,as my fingers tracedthe walls gave wayfritted, collapsed,with swollen heart…

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