44's
On a hot summers day
sunlight beating down
black asphalt radiates
the sun’s burning heat
with the stink of diesel fumes
and the screech of air brakes
the tractor painted white
pulling a trailer oh so long
they called and gathered us
to form a line so long
pushed up the rolling door
threw out a 40 pound case
cases heavy and white
smelling of citrus sharp
filled with fruit orange
called out 52’s
started a sing song chant
with every case they threw
we pass them down the chain
each case caught and then thrown on
sweating in hot sun light
young muscles with effort strained
as the chant went on
till called out 44’s
the older men did stop
the endless cases thrown
with smiles they gathered around
us youth gathered behind
the case they opened then
with oranges so large filled
each one they did pass on
till each of us had one
an orange so big had I
never seen before
and soon I was to learn
the very reason why
every orange in the case we ate
each and every one
till the 44’s were gone
and then we continued on
a lesson I did learn
of oranges never seen
and never found in stores
a case of 44’s
Font size:
Submitted by wakofoed on February 23, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 8 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXXX XXAB XBCX AXXD XXXE AXED XXXX XXEF GCHG XFXE HXXD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,064 |
Words | 214 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"44's" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/62396/44's>.
Discuss the poem 44's with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In