Compassion
Dark side street subway gratings
Prizes to the homeless
Free steam-heat rising from below.
Vacancies could be scarce
Such kept many a rag soldier
From freezing on bitter nights
Then…
There was the night
Finding him fetal
The storefront alcove
His only shelter
Shivering
His hands finding warmth
Between his legs
His ragged possessions
A pillow
Lost
But missed by no one
Battered
Crusted with dirt
Mirroring so many
Propped against a wall
His home
For the night
His mouth agape
Perhaps in the dream state
Of hell
Then…
My stare still on the naked man
His body quivering with the sudden dead air impact
If cops find him
Bad
If compassion appears
Good
The sudden appearance of the space blanket from my pocket
Stilled his body
A nod
A smile
A stuttered “thank you”
“Hope it helps”
The walk home
Slow
Tears
Can’t help it
Yet…
I had no complaints
Compared to the something accomplished this night
Such a sense of doing something right
A piece of nirvana
At least for tonight
Back to the table
Paper
Pencil
And…
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But I finally did see them in Washington DC very close to the White House and in scads in San Francisco where even then, I couldn't afford to pay the rent, now astronomical because of the success of Silicon Valley.
There are many reasons why these people involved in the cracks, but there is no reason why the wealthiest people in the world don't get busy and just take care of them, regardless of their motives and their failures.
Touched me greatly…
Ron