gringo rash

I got the gringo rash

started on day one
day nine now
and it's bad

I work at a joint
that makes kale chips
and other raw foods
dehydrated and packaged
in recycled cardboard
stacked in burlap
all folksy like

The head honky is named Brad
started the thing in his garage
four years ago
now it's a fifteen million dollar business
run off the back of Hondurans
in Mexican clothes

ran through the loopholes
of what Americans
are comfortable calling sweat shop

I need a steady check at the moment
and have no car
so now I bounce along
with the other semi migrant workers
to the Reggaeton and Mariachi music
that carries rhythm under the constant
separation of green leafs
from stalks
and shrieks from foreman crackers
shouting, "Rapido!"
and the mock responses
of "Muy rapido, por favor"

Hand mixing a few tons of kale
with a sauce
ground from mostly locally grown
non-gmo veggies, and a fuck load
of jalapenos
will tend to make the paler skinned folks
feel like they bathed their arms in acid

Rashes pop-up as well