I just thought of Abe’s poem about a smelly man asking for change and perfumed him walking away and how ugly is made relevant. Today, dirty was made relevant for me. I cross the highway and stop to let traffic pass me by in the middle where a group of people camp out and try to make some change by cleaning the windshields of cars stopped at the traffic light. When they saw me stopped there alone, they rolled up on me like cleaning windshields wasn’t the only way they made money… I greet them and ask how they are doing like they were my peoples… They get a little confused. I put out my hand. They are suspicious. Their hands, along with their clothes and face, are covered in grime and dirt. Strangers don’t shake these hands. Nine times out of ten, being friendly inspires a friendly response. No dice with these guys. One starts yelling at me. What are you doing here? Get the hell away from our spot! I don’t stress it and as I’m walking away, he yells get out of here, Sucio(dirty)! Its easy to dismiss people as crazy. But he is saying what he has probably heard a million times. How many people have said those words to him? How many times has he been reduced to being homeless? Jobless? Sucio? In the eyes of a society that pretends so hard to be clean. Clean like the shoes of generals while they order more people tortured, disappeared, executed in a war that history only has one word for: sucio.
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