Jason Robinson.

Farm Worker’s Almanac

Worker Housing, Sacramento Valley 1993

These walls lean

against themselves

like people

trying to rest

asleep on their feet

at the bent edge

of an acre

torn like a paper’s

corner torn

from lifting and bending back

this land

the workers and activists sit on the floor

the living room

has no furniture

that’s not in the contract

the floor bends

without a foundation

linoleum peels like shingles

at our feet

we trade

clipboards with papers

and read English

words that always seem broken

between the tongue and throat

leaking through our teeth

someone

translates

and people relate

they have grown tired

of signing papers

and fear they aren’t allowed

to vote