<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">The Street Cleaner</span></div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class=""> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">She had a purpose</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Cleaning the streets</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Some days it was dirt</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Some days it was trash</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">And some days it was </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Rose petals</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">From the funeral marches</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Strewn on the road</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">By insane mothers and fathers</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Who lost their sons and daughters</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Infants and grand-children </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">To war</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class=""> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">She heard the voices</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Which arose from the dead</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Bodies never buried</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class=""> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">With her broom in hand</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">She dutifully</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Made circles of rose petals</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">In the quiet places</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">To honor them</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">A touch of beauty</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">She thought</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">In this time of darkness</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Then she moved on</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Her palm frond broom in hand</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class="">Cleaning</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class=""> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Corlene Van Sluizer</div></body></html>