November 10, 1970 (I was 25)
hitch-hiker
I gave a man a ride today
he said he was fifty-six
I only knew he had an old
mouth
said he’d slept outside
last night
only had a cup of coffee
and that was yesterday
morning
We talked of hitch-hiking
and I lied
for one reason or another
about understanding what it
was to be fifty-six and
on the road Then rather than lie some more
I stopped talking and
listened
Now with Nixon was like
then with Hoover
It’s hell to get a job when
you’re fifty-six
Unloaded a lot of frozen
beef in Oakland
working for those damned
Texans who never worked
will barely give you a rag
and won’t buy you a cup of
coffee
California is filled to the
brim with people
who thought it would be
something better
and people think because
you’re 56 and hitch-hiking
you got a gun and want to
rob them
They never think maybe you want
to go somewhere
I dropped him at Big
Daddy’s He took a quarter and said
“Both ways”
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