Left-behind Takeout

Lunchtime.
the food trucks are parked,
lined up in a square
around once-vibrant flower gardens
at Civic Center park.

eat Local, buy Local,
whatever you are in the mood for:
expensive street tacos,
ethnic food,
barbecue,
New Orleans cuisine,
fancy pizza,
fatty burgers.

it’s great for our economy,
nice if you can afford to eat this way.

a few hundred feet away
homeless sit on benches,
lean against pillars
of the Greek amphitheater
with their few possessions:
a box of Ritz crackers
& an empty Gatorade bottle,
bulging plastic bags
like some suit-and-tie’s left-behind takeout.

they sleep in the shade,
drooling,
smelling the smells
wafting from the food trucks.
watching the worker bees
punch ATM buttons —
signs posted say Cash Only.

Monday Piku

Yay Monday!
says
no one ever