BITS AND PIECES

The Sloppy Joes
our mother made us
years later she admitted
were mostly tomato sauce
and white bread. We learned

that Spam has a knockoff brand,
sold at Fareway, named "Treet."
My father works in a factory
that, from highway 34, looks like
a prison, with its metal tower
and charred brick smokestack.

His lunch pail is black
with silver metal buckles.
His thermos is metallic,
like a large caliber bullet.
His thermos fits into his lunch pail
like a cartridge in a rifle barrel.

"Bits and Pieces" is a snapshot of a blue collar, working class existence. It also focuses on the mindset of the people who live this type of life and the everyday struggles they endure to survive. It's like a family tree defined by hard work and little income.