the Sun only rises for the rich
I suspect this because I ride the bus early
with others like me
nannies and nurses
José who does your lawn
my mother who will toss your luggage onto the bag belt
heavy and sloppy like wet trash
all of us scurrying
the cream swirling into our coffee
the coffee into our veins
we are all of us racing the dawn
and I wonder
if we never got off the bus
would this day stay night forever?

Spencer Diaz-Tootle is an activist, caregiver and artist based in Chicago. She’s been published by the University of Chicago and the Denver-based Nudie Magazine, among others. In 2017, Spencer was a featured poet for the 5th Star Honors Award Ceremony.

Other accolades include being awarded as a 2020 Bob Curry Fellow at The Second City and a 2019 Movement Maker within the National Network of Abortion Funds.