Cold Driving Rain Poem by Laurence Overmire

It’s raining.
Cold driving rain.
Commuters rushing home from work
Home to hubby, wife and family
Spot and Cleo
And a fire on the stove.
Another day of brutal business
Accounts are squared
And errands run
No more phone calls
No more hassles
Watch some boob tube
Think of sex
Spare some change, sir
Spare some change, ma’am
I haven’t eaten for three days
You haven’t washed for three days either
Get a job, you dirty bum
I wonder how my stocks are doing
Shelter some money in a tax-free fund
Spare some change, sir
Spare some change, ma’am
Walk past quickly and ignore him
He just wants a shot of booze
Please sir
Spare some change, sir
And the rain keeps pouring down...

All is quiet on the street now
Two a.m. of a Tuesday night
All is quiet, all is peaceful
Save for the drizzling of the rain
Gently tapping
The lifeless body
Huddled on the pavement
Spare some change.


(Previously published in Rinse & Repeat, Scars Publications,1999; The Poet's Porch, Nov.2000, Poetry Soul to Soul, Apr.2002; World's Strand Anthology,2008)