I slept last night in a comfortable bed.
I went shopping today for whatever I need.
The wind swept latte cups all over the ground,
and midtown seemed to teeter with greed.
He was standing at the entrance to Bryant Park.
As the Friday evening heat took hold.
he was handing out flyers to anyone who would look.
He was simply asking them to please read.

At first I thought it was some kind of menu or scam,
or one of those image factories.
But no – his story was about something else.
He was leafletting for Unite/Here.
He wanted the cocktail hour people to know,
that Bryant Park Grill isn’t clean.
Cause its laundry is done in an old fashioned sweatshop.
And the workers don’t have many dreams.

Nobody stopped to listen,
though his manner was mild and kind.
They knew he was not part of their search for pod.
So they passed his message by.
I picked up the flyer and nodded my head.
We said Hola, como esta, – I moved on.
I meant to go over and talk to him some more.
But when I looked up from my laptop – he was gone.

I still have his flyer and his face in my head.
But I don’t know if he is still employed.
Some of his friends found their jobs jeopardized.
North American Linen was annoyed.
The NLRB seems to be on the case.
Though I doubt they are in any rush.
Six dollars an hour and a lack of health care.
Probably wouldn’t bother them too much.