there are a lot of homeless people
here in the MacArthur Park area
of Los Angeles
most of them are fine
keep to themselves
smoke rock by themselves
shoot up by themselves
talk to themselves
they leave me alone
and since that’s just
what i want
me and the homeless are solid

red pants though
he’s a fucker
i don’t like him
he’s a short ginger
balding badly
long red beard
and dirty
red denim jeans

the first time i encountered
red pants
was at the taco truck
on 6th and Alvarado
i was waiting for my tacos
and he was screaming
wanting someone to buy him
a quesadilla
tacos were $1
quesadillas were $5

what a dick, i thought

then he started yelling
about burning all of us alive

the next time i ran into him
i was at Maggie’s
the donut shop on 6th and Coronado
waiting for a breakfast burrito
he came in yelling
wanting someone to buy him a sandwich
a roast beef sandwich
that’s $9
in a donut shop

what a dick, i thought

then he started yelling
that we were all slaves
and they were keeping us quiet
then he saw that all of our skin
was charred
blackened by being burned alive

i saw him sleeping
on the bus stop bench a few times
saw him this morning sleeping on Wilshire
the other day though
he was eating a big plate of mexican food
sauce and cabbage hanging in his
ginger beard
he was dancing and singing
with his mouth full
someone actually bought him
a top tier meal

what a dick!
but at least he’s eating

now that i think about it
he may be the one who
torched the vacant lot next door…