Talgomine Rock - A Prose Poem By Paul Vincent Cannon
Talgomine Rock - a prose poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
Photo: taken in spring (September) 2018 at Talgomine Rock Reserve: Everlastings carpet the bush. “The first lily of June opens its red mouth.” Marge Piercy Talgomine RockRains recede to spring orchids in songs of pastel blues and yellows. Wrens fan, flitter, chatter across the sun-bleached granite and are just as suddenly gone. There’s something comforting about the musky soil that fills me, to…
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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!
High Tide - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
Image by metacross from Pixabay “The idealistic imagined world is alone, isolated, undisturbed remaining free …” Angelina Pandian High TideThose little expansive momentsof transportrapture or riskwelcome or notin nano seconds of interruptionparallel universes openingI've lost the trigger,but I don't really careI'm in it now,don't disturblet me indulge the flurryof senses and memoriesno matter…
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Sure - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
At dVerse Melissa is hosting Poetics with an invitation to write a poem that is about lying, for more detail follow the link below: dVerse Poets – Poetics – April Fools Image: learning-mind.com “To claim, at a dead party, to have spotted a grackle, when in fact you haven’t of late, can do no harm.” Richard Wilbur SureO yeah, surekeep goingbut I gotta tell youonly 47% of what you saidis true…
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A Curse On All Who Enable - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
Photo: dailysabah.com German commando operation frees Benito Mussolini in 1943 while he was held captive by his own government. He was recaptured by partisans in 1945 and executed. Notably Mussolini had grandiose ideas, an inflated ego, and desired to be an emperor. Ironically, part of his undoing was his incompetence in economic management, including placing tariffs on trading partners leading…
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Not Missing Anything - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
Photo: waterandnature.org “And puddles glimmering in my mind” John Masefield Not Missing AnythingMotes gathercataractically in thecorners of your eyes,time fritters your wallsof brittle doubt,yesterday you knewtoday you don't needthat obsession,now, you just enjoypuddle-jumping angstriddled pavements,waving the tour busgoodbye and breathingwith ease, not holdingeverything, not…
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Delight - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
At dVerse Lillian is hosting Open Link Night (with live edition Saturday – for details follow the link below) the night we choose a poem to post. This will be the last live session for 2024. dVerse Poets – OLN Photo: pexels.com “… beyond the body itself, we are making love” Sharon Olds DelightIn the mellow of eveI wonder,from time to time,what it would be liketo take a portion of sunand…
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I Wonder - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
Image by JayMantri from Pixabay “Did you tackle that trouble that came your way …” Edmund Vance Cooke I WonderThe unplanned dayexpansive before me,as creased and informal as my wrangled sheetsand just as sneaky as what lay imaginatively under the bed plottingagainst my lack of showering,ironing or complete plan of doing zero,subverted by any numberof impromptu zoomsa lack of milkvisitors…
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Get A Free Zing - a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
At dVerse De is hosting the Quadrille with and invitation to Zing, to include Zing or a form in a poem. dVerse Poets – Quadrille – Poems With Zing Photo: outdoorshell.com “O Winter! frozen pulse and heart of fire” Helen Hunt Jackson Get A Free ZingCamping in the winternow that's not the thing,the closer to zeromore woolies need to bring,because of the temperaturesome vigorous walkingis de…
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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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