71 In A Truck Poem by Irving Courtley Jones

Most of them men
59 to be exact
as if strength can give you
more power to breathe
even if there is no air

Decaying flesh as if no one
Cares about human life
the possibility
never occurred to those who
took the money

The eight that were woman
wives, mothers, sisters
daughters the smaller gentler
things that for some reason
were ignored

When you find decomposed bodies
that are left so long
they are dried flesh beyond
recognition
The stuff that's left in the
refrigerator far too long
only this time instead of rotted cabbage
it is human

My only question
the children
four of them
did the driver hear?
any cries
did it cost too much to stop and
open the door
for a breath
of fresh air


9/7/2015