Allentown Residential Care Inc.

No, I didn't have to speak any Spanish
when picnic time ended at Allentown.
María nibbled her tunafish sandwich.

Miguel who never would speak any language
drank from his sippy cup, sucking facedown.
No, I didn't have to speak any Spanish

when strapping assistants brought an outlandish
gurney that turns him into a pronoun
assisted with living. There he will languish

as much as slag heaps from iron ore span this
town like his bedsores a scat dirty brown
he'd ask them to scratch if Miguel spoke language.

The black teardrop driveway soon will have vanished
on the road to Philly until around
a year from now when our budget will manage

María's next visit, another sandwich,
and more indigestion in Allentown.
No, I didn't have to speak any Spanish
to understand vomit's visceral language.