The drought, so lawn work stops.
Victor needs money – not for beer – he’s been off for a year.
He starts his red and white pickup, and heads for alleys, not streets.
He has an eagle’s eye for scrap metal, and yesterday he found a washing machine.
“Got any metal?” he asks.
“No, not today. Maybe when the water heater busts, then, yes.”
I look into the back of the pickup: bicycle rims, bicycle frames and a broken shovel, the washer, too.
He takes one of his eight sons on the alley searches; their eyes aren’t sharp. He uses them to lift the scrap.
Victor’s pickup, sagging, is on the street for a moment, out of place.
He turns and goes down an alley, looking, belonging, one with discards ….
Eugene “Gene” Novogrodsky late September 2011
arriba unidad/abajo divisiones – awip – no wall/no war – peace
