Poem

...Poem The View from Here It's not hard to find them any night, sleeping under autumn stars, the nameless, swept away or under, dozy, maybe asleep, car heater off, a gentle, poisoned wind blowing through the window, the toddler kicks and growls like a dog dreaming, the older son's closed eyes twitch as if he can't chase or flee such pictures fast enough, and the parents, too big and hot, how every hour or so they wake, touch, nudge to make room in their early model front seat, fresh water to last the night, chips and Snickers, diapers, gum, celebrity gossip rags, cover sheets for the children, breathing inside sullen steel blued by moonlight, under a trestle or interstate, in an off-season stadium lot, untended campground or back street, or parked there behind the strip mall's dumpster pod, just like last night, times before and to come, if we look to see, then to imagine the tribes together, hundreds of junkers like tortoises in an abandoned drive-in, windows steamy, voices and grunts as we walk past the secrets of the day jobbers, house-cleaners, nannies, pickers, and busboys camouflaged among us, on their way to greater goods, dreaming of how we stand here watching them...

...Knopf published his most recent book of poems, "Skirts and Slacks," in 2001, and will bring out his new one, "Brother Fire," in October...

...He is the author of three volumes of essays, the most recent of which is "Shooting the Works" (TriQuarterly 1996...

...W S. Di Piero W. S. Di Piero is a poet, essayist, and translator...

...He lives in San Francisco...