30,000 pounds of bananas

it was just after dark when the truck started down

the hill that leads into scranton pennsylvania. carrying thirty thousand pounds of bananas. carrying thirty thousand pounds of bananas. he was a young driver

just out on his second job. and he was carrying the next day's pasty fruits

for everyone in that coal-scarred city

where children play without despair

in backyard slag-piles and folks manage to eat each day

about thirty thousand pounds of bananas. yes

just about thirty thousand pounds. he passed a sign that he should have seen

saying shift to low gear