You Did, Mal Poem by Herbert Nehrlich

It must be said, though you,
Mal Rosenbaum would not
agree that folks should be
informed of your activities.
You did, with not a sliver of
that human hesitation,
you gave, more than you had
and it was futile to speak up,
you ate the bread they threw
out back into the bins,
obtained cheap mustard from
the markets on weekends,
they said you did your thing,
did what no person could expect,
and when they closed the lid
on what the city does provide
in modern coffins for the likes
of you and Turkish freaks,
they had the paper on their desk,
it read cardiac insufficiency,
brought on by malnutrition .
You made a difference, my friend.