Photo taken by my husband, Michael S. Sullivan.

Dark, black hole of a sky
with diamond chip pin points of light.

It’s cold, so cold that your breath freezes
as it attempts to pass between your cracked lips.

Ice and snow cover all you see
as you struggle to live through the night.

Thin clothing, not enough to cover you in
summer, is surely not enough in this wintry climate.

Minute after agonizing minute crawls by
as you struggle to keep up the fight.
Heat and warmth are memories
lost in the haze of long ago.

Food lies in the same direction.
When was the last time you ate anyway?

Was it yesterday or .... you forget.
The hunger pains have faded
to a deep rumble to remind you
that you are still, somehow, among the living.

Is this Purgatory? Surely this can’t be living.
Tomorrow you always hope for a better day.

But they closed down the shelter you used to go to.
Lack of money or some budget cut to finance another project.

Tonight you sleep in a ditch,
huddled under tossed aside newspapers
that are no longer wanted
- just like you.