Danny P. Barbare has recently appeared in Plainsongs and North Dakota Quarterly. He attended Greenville Technical College where his poetry won The Jim Gitting’s Award. He lives in the Upstate of the Carolinas where he works as a janitor.

The Broom Says to the Boss

  Take
 us
 by
 the
 handle
  
      says
      the
      broom
  
           and
           keep
           us
           together
           like
           the
           straw
  
                as
                that
                is
                how
                we
                work
  
                     the
                     very
                     kindness
                     of
                     it
  
                          the
                          clean. 

The Janitor’s Dance

  Says the janitor, I know I’m 
 happy when my feet cut loose
 and break into a dance with a
 broom, simple and plain, 
 natural as a wooden handle 
 and straw and shoes that shine.