(April 12, 1952)

What do you think this poem is about?

Mission Tire Factory, 1969

All through lunch Peter pinched at his crotch,
And Jesús talked about his tattoos,
And I let the flies crawl my arm, undisturbed,
Thinking it was wrong, a buck sixty five,
The wash of rubber in our lungs,
The oven we would enter, squinting
---because earlier in the day Manny fell
From his machine, and when we carried him
To the workshed (blood from
Under his shirt, in his pants)
All he could manage, in an ignorance
Outdone only by pain, was to take three dollars
From his wallet, and say:
"Buy some sandwiches.You guys saved my life."

Submitted: Monday, January 20, 2003


Read poems about / on: pain, life

Comments about this poem (Mission Tire Factory, 1969 by Gary Soto )

Enter the verification code :

  • Lee Mack (12/22/2009 10:08:00 AM)

    the real poetry is conscience transcending what we make of moments -of events that
    it seems to us as real as it gets -we take them with us because we need them to be real -then conscience everlasting gets into a poem where the real thing is... you put it there in this poem my brother

    11 person liked.
    		12 person did not like.
  • Lee Mack (12/22/2009 9:02:00 AM)

    the real poetry is conscience transcending what we make of moments -of events that
    it seems to us as real as it gets -we take them with us because we need them to be real -then conscience everlasting gets into a poem where the real thing is... you put it there in this poem my brother

    10 person liked.
    		12 person did not like.
  • James Mcfetridge (11/8/2009 1:36:00 PM)

    Gary Soto takes us into the dark & dangerous world of work from his youth. The gritty, bleak mood & tone reminds me of John Steinbeck's 'In Dubious Battle'

    9 person liked.
    		13 person did not like.
  • Richard Cock III (6/26/2006 1:39:00 PM)

    really dug this one.

    14 person liked.
    		8 person did not like.
Read all 4 comments »

People who read Gary Soto also read

Top 500 Poems

  1. Phenomenal Woman
    Maya Angelou
  2. The Road Not Taken
    Robert Frost
  3. Still I Rise
    Maya Angelou
  4. If You Forget Me
    Pablo Neruda
  5. Dreams
    Langston Hughes
  6. Annabel Lee
    Edgar Allan Poe
  7. If
    Rudyard Kipling
  8. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Maya Angelou
  9. A Dream Within A Dream
    Edgar Allan Poe
  10. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
    Robert Frost
The Complete List of Top 500 Poems »
[Hata Bildir]