Sweeping the States
By Jacob Saenz
they move in swift on the Swift
Plants in six states & sift
through the faces to separate
the dark from the light
like meat & seat them in
the back of vans packed tight
like the product they pack
& who's to pick up the slack
the black & white can't cut it
so the beef stacks sell single
to feed the pack the flock
who block passages & clog
the cogs of the machine the process
not so swift to give & grant a wish
of a place a stake in the land
handling the steaks for the rest
to take in to sate the mouths
of the stock who have stock
in the business of beef & beef
with the brown who ground them
Copyright Credit: Jacob Saenz, "Sweeping the States" from . Copyright © by Jacob Saenz. Reprinted by permission of .
Source: Poetry (November 2007)