***aug 13-09***for The Thousands That Have Destroyed It Poem by Tom J. Mariani

It took only one
To restore
My faith in man

Here's what it took
I was low on printer paper
So I went to an office supply store

Just got out of my Jeep
When a dirty 20 somehting
Asks can help him and his old lady

I don't see an old lady
But he unfolds an old cardboard sign
That says so

I've got a couple of bucks
Of loose change
In my pocket

I dig it out
Hand it to him
He's profusely grateful

Just then a toothless old guy
Rolls oujt of the store
Asks the youngster for a smoke

As I walk away I hear
'Don't have a smoke,
but I will share with you

What I just got.'
I go in the store
As they share my two bucks

By the time I turn to go back
To give them more
They're gone