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Ode on a Septic Tank (in the key of C)

(in which the Sullivans get "The Letter" from the Town Center Sewer Task Force)

Erin Ash Sullivan plays ukulele to accompany her original composition at the Friends of the Arts talent show last Saturday night. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Erin Ash Sullivan plays ukulele to accompany her original composition at the Friends of the Arts talent show last Saturday night. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
I thought we’d be together nigh on 30 years—
A silent witness to my hopes and fears
But then I got their note—knew what that letter meant
Our time was ending due to pending sewer betterment.

So I say…

Hey, hey, ho, ho, my mounded septic has got to go
I got eighteen thousand gallons of daily flow*
With my one-time betterment fee
Ooh, ooh, hee, hee, what’s my leach field gonna be
An orchard with especially hearty trees
For my one-time betterment fee.

Hey sewer guys, I got you to thank
I won’t have to pump out my septic tank
But I think I’ll miss it a little bit
It was the only thing that could take joking.

Ooh, ooh, pant, pant, excuse me but I gotta rant
I’m gonna get a hookup to a treatment plant
For my one-time betterment fee
Ooh, ooh, hush, hush, pardon me but I got to gush
I just can’t wait for that unlimited flush
With my one-time betterment fee.

I’m proud to say that I’m a fan
Of Harvard’s not-so-mythical master plan
There’s so much good news, and so much more,
(And some super-dooper poopin’ at the General Store)
Ooh, ooh, oh, oh, now I really gotta go
I ain’t got much time to make that dough
For my one-time betterment
(Payin’ for my excrement)
One-time betterment fee!

 

*To be perfectly accurate, this is 18,400 gallons, or 80 percent, of the permitted 23,000-gallon capacity of the current wastewater treatment plant.

 

 

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