The Trash Men

here they come 

these guys 

grey truck 

radio playing 

they are in a hurry 

it’s quite exciting: 

shirt open 

bellies hanging out 

they run out the trash bins 

roll them out to the fork lift 

and then the truck grinds it upward 

with far too much sound . . . 

they had to fill out application forms 

to get these jobs 

they are paying for homes and 

drive late model cars 

they get drunk on Saturday night 

now in the Los Angeles sunshine 

they run back and forth with their trash bins 

all that trash goes somewhere 

and they shout to each other 

then they are all up in the truck 

driving west toward the sea 

none of them know 

that I am alive