The poem contrasts two groups of people waiting at a traffic light - two garbage workers in a trash truck and an elegant wealthy couple in a Mercedes. The garbage workers are described as being up since 4am, tired and worn from their work, while the couple is well-dressed and on their way to the man's architect office. Though physically close at the traffic light, the poem suggests there is a great social distance between the lives and opportunities of the two groups, as the garbage workers gaze down at the couple from "a great distance," seeing their lifestyle as unattainable.

1. ‘Scavengers’ = derogatory word. Suggests the garbage people live off the rubbish of others like beetle scavengers live off rotting flesh.Structure: fairly free. Doesn’t use punctuation, instead begins a line when he wants us to pause in our reading. This slows down the poem and gives us time to appreciate each idea. It is written in Present Tense which adds to the immediacy.Language: Title shows straight away that the poem will be about contrasts between the 2 social groups. Right away we feel like the Garbage men are at a disadvantage.Two Scavengers in a Truck,<br />Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes<br />ComplimentaryLawrence Ferlenghetti<br />Fragmented Layout = a reflection of the fractured society it discusses?At the stoplight waiting for the light<br />nine a.m. downtown San Francisco<br /> a bright yellow garbage truck<br />with two garbagemen in red plastic blazers<br />Imagery – These strong colours of the garbage men contrasts with the dull, 3 piece linen suit & blonde hair of the couple. Suggests the garbage men have more colour & variety in their lives standing on the back stoop<br />one on each side hanging on<br />The Garbage men are ‘looking down’ into the merc. and looking down into<br /> an elegant open Mercedes<br /> with an elegant couple in it.<br />The description of the couple is very visual. Makes it easy to imagine the scene.The man<br />In a hip three-piece linen suit<br /> with shoulder-length blond hair & sunglasses<br />The young blond woman so casually coifed<br /> with a short skirt and <br /> on the way to his architect’s office<br />Makes us sympathise with the workers hard lives.<br />And the two scavengers up since four a.m.<br />Colloquial (Common language) grungy from their route<br />on the way home<br />The older of the two with grey iron hair<br /> and hunched back<br /> looking down like some<br />Repetition gargoyle Quasimodo<br />SIMILE – Quasimodo was a tragic figure who was kind and loving, despite his ugly and scary appearance. He finally dies of a broken heart.And the younger of the two<br /> also with sunglasses & long hair<br /> about the same age as the Mercedes driver<br />And both scavengers gazing down<br />To the garbagemen, the couples lifestyle seems unreal and out of reach. as from a great distance<br />They are actually close together, stuck at the red lights. Suggests the distance between the lives the couples leave. at the cool couple<br />as if they were watching some odourless TV ad<br />in which everything is always possible<br />METAPHOR – If America is the high seas, the distance between the 2 vehicles is a small gulf. It may look possible to cross for an instant, but in reality it will never be genuinely close.<br />And the very red light for an instant<br /> Holding all four close together<br />As if anything at all were possible<br /> between them<br /> across the small gulf<br /> in the high seas<br /> of this democracy<br />