They say one man’s trash

Is another man’s treasure.

If that be the case

Then I see a treasure hunter

Foraging in a dumpster

Every day.

X marks the spot

Where he’s got a bamboo pole

With canvass bags attached

Off to the side of the road.

He places mats on the road

For two puppies to lie on.

He treasures those dogs

Precious, invaluable

They are his.

Cast aside

Like the items in the dumpster.

Maybe those dogs were cast away like him.

I read today

That in the US

Animal shelters are having trouble

Getting humans to adopt black dogs.

Perceived lower, cursed.

There’s an organization

That advocates for those black dogs to be adopted.

Who will take it as their cause to adopt this man

Cast black dog by society

As so much trash in the dumpster?

Who will take that bamboo pole of his

Upon their shoulders?

How humane is our society

In Fuzhou, or elsewhere?

For there are treasure hunters nearly everywhere

Fuzhou, China

Retalaheu, Guatemala

Downtown Los Angeles

One need not seek far and wide

To find them

X marks the spot

Somewhere around your corner…

Somewhere by a shopping cart.

Somewhere by a dumpster.

If these men, women, and children are trash

Then how are the rest of us measured?