Working the Line


Working the Line

(the Mexican)
Sitting on a street corner
South of the border
His house many miles south
Looking for something to eat
Anything to put in his mouth

Gone are the days of trabajo
Sweat pouring from his brow
From building the supermercado
To the days of skinning a cow

(the American)
Well north of the border
An American sits on a bench
Unable to pay his child support order
His fists beginning to clench

Let go from the factory
Whose chimneys continue to steam
Replaced by cheap labor
By those chasing the American dream

(the laborer)
Knowing they think I come cheap
I sit on this corner still resolute
Across the border are riches to reap
Such are the wages of this dispute

(the disillusioned)
I traded a bar stool for this old park bench
With the flurries of November starting to swirl
I can live with my girl if needed in a pinch
Consternation abounds in this socialized world

My beat up old Ford now transports fifteen illegals
Be they landscapers, masons, line cooks or such
Its back windows adorned with American eagles
For those willing to pay it no longer means quite as much

(one in the same)
While I sit here en la esquina
My ride to the north is coming up soon
I scan the gutter for the butt of a cigar
No bed to to sleep in... porque soy sin un hogar

(homeless)

I cant imagine the comfort they must feel
As I sit here homeless... on a bench... in a park
With no pillow on which to rest my head
As they scuffle across the border... in the cover of dark

(meanwhile)

Perhaps under the cover dark
I can cross the wicked borderline
If I'm lucky I can rest in a park
And some kind of work I can find

(2000 miles away)

This old bench up north is just way too cold
I can reach San Diego in a couple of days
This damn job hunt is getting way too old
A park bench awaits in the warm southern rays

Northern or southern
Its actually quite the same
For the homeless of either
Its opportunity they seek
Whether for warmth or work
On a corner or in a park
By the light of day on a bench
Or across the desert by dark

The human condition is just that
Politics and color aside
Looking across all borders...

God dictates that human rights must abide

Jesse Alberson
January 26, 2013




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