But a frenzied beard of gray
Several sets of black clothes all worn at once
And a foundation of dirt
Bam! goes the Knife against the Fork
The mighty titans clash for the Spoon
The soft humdrum of adult voices
No one seeing the small face beside the window
Ha! The Knife triumphs.
Across the street the guy eats
What's left of a doughnut
The titans are forgotten
Yes, there he goes again
Digging though the trash
Wow, so this is a homeless man
Invisible to all adult eyes
Where does this new guy walking by
Think he's from? Fancy suit and shades
Just like in New York, but in Chicago
Carrying coffee burning in Styrofoam
He pauses by the trash can
Metal, rusted, bare, filled with
Trash to the brim
The homeless man scuffles away with something like
Shame?
Coffee is set upright in the trash
Ham walks away
And the coffee becomes acquainted with
A doughnut and a man with no home and no name
And the Knife wonders where the victory is.
Copyright 2002