The Streetwalkers (Poem)

The vacancy of midnight

Shone of flickering street lights

Precipitating the hot, summer air

The spiritless strips of Long Beach

The walking pedestrian signals

They crossed — fingers intertwined

Shaped like the head of lettuce that they carried

Wrapped in such an organic overlay

Their outside hands — both holding the plastic

Lettuce and bread and milk and butter

Staple groceries to uphold them

For the next two weeks til pay

40 hour weeks, rent due on the first

Electric bill from last month — 50 dollar late fee

But those four legs kept walking

Just as they’ve walked before, and they’ll walk tomorrow

Yet not a single line of stress marked on their face

The man and the woman knew — they had it all

Livelihood, love, and trust that God will provide

Stop the complicating, it will be alright