Two Scavengers In A Truck, Two Beautiful People In A Mercedes

akyof705 · 14-05-2007

This is such a good strong poem and it will probably turn up in my GCSE
English Language exam tommorow. I really like the ending:

At the stoplight waiting for the light
nine a.m. downtown San Francisco
a bright yellow garbage truck
with two garbagemen in red plastic blazers
standing on the back stoop
one on each side hanging on
and looking down into
an elegant open Mercedes
with an elegant couple in it

The man
in a hip three-piece linen suit
with shoulder-length blond hair & sunglasses
The young blond woman so casually coifed
with a short skirt and colored stockings
on the way to his architect's office

And the two scavengers up since four a.m.
grungy from their route
on the way home
The older of the two with grey iron hair
and hunched back
looking down like some
gargoyle Quasimodo
And the younger of the two
also with sunglasses & long hair
about the same age as the Mercedes driver

And both scavengers gazing down
as from a great distance
at the cool couple
as if they were watching some odorless TV ad
in which everything is always possible

And the very red light for an instant
holding all four close together
as if anything at all were possible
between them
across that small gulf
in the high seas
of this democracy

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I_AnKyG3_I · 21-06-2008

Yeah i had that in my exam too, i loved the poem, i love the comparison with the gargoyle quasimodo

phep · 28-11-2008

Urgh... Can't stand poetry... Pointless if you ask me.

nerdlegend · 09-06-2009

I remember that in my exam

Quite a good peom and easy to understand. Still have my notes on it

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ozzymandan · 11-08-2008

i had a blast from the past reading that poem.

Mike939 · 15-04-2008

It doesnt even rhyme

But seriously I hated that poem I must have taken every note possible on it then got moved into a different class

*All my spelling and grammar mistakes are on purpose.

Pacman_Ownage · 30-09-2008

i remeber that in my exam to

flipping hated it

...You know... because everyones doing it?

Gawge · 22-04-2008

I think I used that for my exam

I hate poetry but liked doing it for my exam for the same reasons. It is incredibly easy because it can mean ANYTHING, people look way too deep into the meaning of things that obviously weren't intended so you can write a load of rubbish just "backing it up" with words they teach you.