The man on the corner, he’s tired and old.
Maybe a vet of the Vietnam era, or
maybe once he had wealth untold.
But look at him today at this very moment.
He stands waiting for a bus, shivering and cold.
A long tattered overcoat and shoes with no sole
is what the man on the corner is wearing.
Does he have a ride coming or a place to go?
Is he just out there, in the weather?
How time takes its toll!
“Excuse me sir, if I may be so bold,
there’s a shelter ‘round the corner,
or so I’ve been told.
He looks at me as his eyes fill with water
“Don’t need no shelter. I have an abode.”
I hit the switch and up the window rolled.
“Sorry to bother you!” I say to the man.
He walks away, leaving tracks in the snow.
Looking over his shoulder, his face twitching
‘cause of the weather I suppose.
I turn around and drive down the road
and then in the rear view mirror I see
the man on the corner, tired and old
dropped on the ground, his head lay open,
his arms spread out, his legs in a fold.
Cars keep driving by. Not a one of them showed
any interest in helping the man on the ground.
I call 911. Pleading, “Please help this old soul!
He needs help now!
Over there, on the muddy knoll.”
The ambulance came and then drove away slow.
“Can’t help him now.” as their shoulders shrug.
Before my eyes, away his life flowed.
Ashamed I ignored, the day before,
the man on the corner that I didn’t know.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
The Applicant
I walk into the pub, my usual evening fare
but there was a woman sitting
in my usual evening chair.
I took a seat along side
and said “Mind if I sit here?”
Awaited reply never came
but really, I didn’t care.
“Your usual Long Island Iced Tea?”
asks the approaching bartender,
and with a grin I ask “the drink's free?”
Then came an unsolicited answer
from the woman next to me.
“I wish!” she said, with a kind of smirk
and then slapped me on my knee.
“You know any where that may be hiring?”
she asks me right out of nowhere.
She has my attention, as I, admiring
her clothing that leave her bosom bare.
“What sort of work might you be inspiring?”
striking up a conversation I dare
giving my best attempt to be charming.
“Oh” she says, “it really don’t matter none
‘cause I gone so long with no money.
Just tryin’ to take care of me and my son."
"You must have something in mind honey,"
I retort. "After all, you have a little one.
Come by tomorrow, at 161 Sunney."
She smiles and says "Consider it done!"
Morning turned to noon, then turned to night
and the applicant never showed up.
I declared it a day and left the job site,
A man of habit, went to the pub.
There was that woman, just to my right!
"So you found a job, I guess at this club."
I spoke facetiously, as her lips spread tight.
She began to speak and out came a lie.
She knew that I knew, but she didn’t care.
She is, after all, the customary bar fly
that comes in every day, a recurring fare.
They all mumble and moan and let out a sigh
about someone else in their usual chair
and I think to myself, “I’m glad I’m not that kind of guy!”
_________________________________________________________
One More
_________________________________________________________
There once was a man
a drunkard he became.
After losing his wife
living life wasn’t the same.
A drunkard he became
as he sat slumped on his stool.
Living life wasn’t the same.
“Bartender, one more.”
As he sat slumped on his stool
he thought of his past.
“Bartender, one more.”
His heart in liquid cast.
He thought of his past
after losing his wife.
His heart in liquid cast,
he ordered one more.
After losing his wife
he attended her funeral.
He ordered one more,
the first one of several.
He attended her funeral
as he shed a new tear.
The first one of several
full of guilt and fear.
As he shed a new tear
“Bartender, one more.”
Full of guilt and fear,
“It’s what I live for.”
_____________________________________________________________________Umbrella
I was starting life over at an over ripe age.
My mind was cluttered and my soul filled with rage.
I ran into the store to buy a few things.
Into a new place I was spreading my wings.
The day wet and windy as a spring day should.
Pouring down rain, I ran as fast as I could.
I lie down my umbrella into the small cart
and went down the aisles toward my new start.
Wondered around aisles as my voice muttered.
or, perhaps my brain had a bad stutter.
“Last month, last year; now what did I need?”
“A plate, a towel, and something to eat.”
Off I go back into a sea.
“Wait, my umbrella, I need it to flee.”
Tears swelled in my eyes, my body went numb.
“I can’t lose that umbrella, it’s my only one.”
“Without it I have nothing to cling to.”
“I’ve lost my security! Now what do I do?”
Throughout aisles I ran through frantically.
I must find my umbrella, my only sanity.
Then I spotted the pink summer like shade
from across the lane and straight ahead.
“Thank God, thank God”; I grabbed my umbrella,
but I got a strange look from a tall skinny fella.
As I wiped the tears away from my cheeks
I suddenly felt like life wasn’t so bleak.
So with my umbrella and my new found belongings
the sun was now shining with no more rain dropping.
Back to my place to start my new life
my umbrella and I, without any strife.
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