The country road is cool with shade
And calm with rural joys,
Unsullied by the shouts of trade,
Untouched by city noise.

At least that's how it used to be,
This sweet and peaceful land,
But now beneath the maple tree
They've built a hot dog stand.

A filling station lifts its head
Above the verdant grass,
And where the spreading chestnuts spread
The air is full of gas.

The roadside of another day
Is now another kind,
For picnic-ers have passed this way
And left a mess behind.

The roadside that was strewn with flowers
Is strewn with empty cans,
Though Nature made the lovely bowers,
The other marks are man's.

A Sunday paper blows around,
Some cake is drawing flies,
It looks more like a battleground,
Where Mother Nature dies.

The building of countless suburbs, malls, that stretch
into the wilderness, and wildlife being destroyed because some
people don't want them in their yards. But where do they go as we
take away more and more of their wilderness?

The clutter and trash, the old tires, wrappers from fast
food restaurants. Soda cans, and water bottles, strewn along roads.

Pollution of our air by jet trails, emissions, factories
and power plants that still disperse contamination
into the water ways. Chemicals sprayed everywhere
to kill this insect or that one.

The WORLD is slowly deteriorating. But you, yes YOU,
can show others, the way to take care of our earth,
just by taking home your unwanted trash and putting
it in the garbage can, or recycle bin.

There are wonderful people out there who volunteer
to pick up the trash along the highways and byways
and we truly thank them for their hard work and
devotion to making America beautiful.
But YOU must help them.