Touch the Earth (once again)

This is what we do:

this is what the cotton truck driver does:

this is what the tobacco leaf roller does:

this is what the washer-woman & the laundry worker does:

this is what the grape & artichoke worker does:

not to mention the cucumber workers —

not to mention the spinach & beet workers

not to mention the poultry woman workers

not to mention the packing house workers &

the winery workers & the lettuce & broccoli

& peach & apricot & squash & apple &

that almost-magical watermelon

& the speckled melon & the honey-dew the workers

this is what they do:

notice: how they bend in the fires no one sees

notice: their ecstatic colors & their knotted shirts

notice: where they cash

their tiny & wrinkled checks & pay stubs:

stand in that small-town desert sundries store

then walk out they do & stall for a moment they do

underneath this colossal tree with its condor-wings

shedding solace for a second or two notice:

how they touch the earth — for you