His first and only volume of poetry, A Pushcart at the Curb carries the strong aesthetic sensibilities and European affinities characteristic of his early work. Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France are the setting for this cultural safari.

In the prologue, Dos Passos conveys his appetite for history as well as great cuisine: “My verse is no upholstered chariot…But a pushcart, rather…a lading of Spanish oranges, Smyrna figs/Fly-specked apples, perhaps of the Hesperides,/Curious fruits of the Indies, pepper-sweet…/Stranger, choose and taste.”