urban harlequin
by Cynth'ya Lewis Reed — Read all 584 poems by Cynth'ya Lewis Reed
The next time you see a homeless person and want to go "yeech" to yourself, just think on this: "what if I lost MY business or MY job"?
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
outkasts/that is how
WE see THEM when WE
pretend not to see THEM
can't show THEM our sorry
half-baked reality that WE mask
with mother's little helper
in a bottle. . . a little
vial of prescription success
tuck'd in the glove compartment
of our SUVs;
how disgusting!
the lowliest of the
commedia dell'arte,
bringing shame to the
very icon of philantrophy
dressed down in variegated
lice-infest'd rags,
skin that smells,
rotted tooth enamel,
matted hair inhabited by
six-legged companions,
all packaged in an
undernourish'd body
blemish'd with scabs
don't get too close,
THEY might trick you
out of your lottery ticket,
or your gas and grocery money
and oh God forbid,
your tithes reserved
to pay your way into
heavenly places with
entrances of precious stones;
why doesn't God just take
THEM out of YOUR sight,
no one wants THEM here,
undereducated drop-outs
who were left behind,
drawing signs on
cardboard:
"Please help"
"Hungry"
"Homeless"
"Will work for food"
maybe if THEY had a green card,
a military record, passport
expired or unexpired, or a birth
certificate from the hospital
that never accepted THEIR mother's
insurance because HER provider
was not on THE HMO list. . .
just maybe a passerby could
pop THEM a cherry Lifesaver
or a partially melted Hershey Kiss
to suck on so they would not
have to perform a two-buck
fellatio on CEO genitalia
for a mayo sandwich, or perhaps
a piece of pre-chew'd doublemint to
plug the hole in the sole of
THEIR weather'd shoes
so THEY would stay out of
your trash on pick-up day.
maybe even offer to salute them,
NYC style and bless them with
a little more discouragement. . .
and how quickly we forget that
Jesus had no zip code,
HIS tears were as the harlequin,
etch'd in red and black,
like rubies and hematite
worn on the wristbands of
America's Most Wanted socialites.
© 2004 by cynth’ya lewis reed
All rights reserved.
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thank you for this write
Tommy
I often hear people say, "I have worked my whole life, why not them?" They would love toom and its not just bad luck, or karma, its just the way the path goes sometimes, and most of us will never understand it, even if we are living it. Compassion is missing in our tech world.
So while at first we may be afraid to look another in the eye who needs our help because we fear to see ourselves, we MUST look them in the eye and help. If not them individually, then an organization that helps the whole. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Gee, that's a catchy phrase. You think someone else has said that already? ;-) Wonder if it's copyrighted.
Carmen :-)