10.11.2004

two men and a tree

walking home this afternoon after picking up my son from pre-school, i came upon two chinese men perched on the sidewalk. i could tell they were gardeners from their wide brim hats and the pickup parked at the curb with garden tools jutting out. they had a bucket of some sort and i thought they were pulling weeds with their hands. as i came closer i saw it was a plastic cooler. on top of the cooler were two porcelain bowls and in the gardeners' grass stained hands chopsticks. the two looked so tranquil under the shade of a tree: eating, smiling, talking...and so at home while far away from home. i felt like i was watching a poem go by.