......................The Holiday Church On 36th Street Poem by elysabeth faslund

The homeless see us, much better than we see them...
we are warmth, food, roofs, and Time.
Perhaps laughter, family...a coat in Winter...
memories of yesterday, when they were us.

What mistake made them cigarette
gleanings from garbage vats, gutters...
kings, queens of one smoke left,
one bite, from a crumpled wrapper,
that is Holiday cheer and festivity.

We see them as assortments of 'one'.

What have we to give them from our pockets?
One dollar, one dime, one wish for them,
one stop by their side...then we are gone,
with one memory of their eyes, hands, hair...

And one, 'I tell ya, Maude, something should
be done for the homeless. I gave one a whole
dollar today. Probably spend it on drugs, but
I gave it with a good heart.'

Then, she adjusts her hat, shoulders her
handbag, and tic-tacs off to church. It's what
God wants her to do.

Right?