Chicano Burglar

The Chicano burglar
gets 99 years
while the rich white swindler
who operated his
crooked business
here in Seguin
gets off with a slap
of the wrist;
the lady down the street
has three little kids,
no child support,
works at the grocery store,
makes five-fifty
an hour,
can't pay the bills,
waits as a white woman
writes out a check
for groceries and a copy
of People magazine;
the brown boy
follows her
with the bags
out to the new Mercedes,
the well-groomed
white poodle
jumps up and down
when it sees its mistress.
The lady does not
tip the boy.
This is what this country
is all about,
if you are rich
you are equal to other rich people;
if you are poor
you are equal to other poor people.