A Poem Of Empathy Poem by RIC BASTASA

my shoes are shiny
black
leather and expensive
i look rich and i speak
like a true gentleman

last night i went of the house
without my
Man Friday
and i wore a mask of the
beggar
and i erased my first name

i am Tonio
the mendicant

and i sit upon a corner
with a can on my hand
begging for
mercy

and you pass by
and you never recognize me
and you spit on me

and then i wrote a poem
about the matter
and you say it is the best poem
i have written
and that you pity the beggar
and that you like to do
something about all the beggars
in this world
make a foundation
fund a cause

and i stop reading the poem
and then
i begin to ask
'who are you? '