Did You See That!
Mystified by a streak in the sky
As its glow disappears on the horizon
I wonder, a comet, an asteroid, a falling star?
Then the thought of it disappeared
When I noticed a woman sitting on the curb
Sleeping against her shopping cart
I wonder if she was dreaming
Or if she was only half asleep
I once was told by a homeless man
"I never really fall asleep ya know...
why, my valuables would be gone by dawn"
I asked him what he considered most valuable
And he replied, "none of your business"
I wondered if he feared losing it to me
Or breaking a sacred trust with himself
I suppose that would be true with most of us
If we disclose too much about ourselves
It may redeem us or destroy us
The woman sleeping against her shopping cart
Awoke with a start as I gazed at her
She seemed to sense my presence and woke up
Where you from?, she asked
I answered, "why?"
"Cause this here place is scary", she said
She moved her cart directly under the street lamp
I suggested she go to the mission for food and help
She replied, "ya see this here cart"
"Yes", I said
"Well, they wouldn't let me bring it inside to your mission
So, of course that was the end of it.
My bottles, my cans and well, never mind about the rest."
"I'm so sorry, you must have felt violated", I said
"But you should be fine under this light
Cause I know it stays on till sun-up"
"Oh that don't matter" she said
"I'd sleep on my cart, but here I'm likely to
Get tipped. It's happened before ya know
That's how I got this here bum shoulder
So I can't lift my arm up too far
Guess I won't be pickin any peaches
My gramma used to make the best peach pie
Anyways, it knocked out a few teeth...
That really pissed me off good
No beauty pageants for me, huh!
So now I only lay up on it in the park
When the ground is too cold for sleepin'
That's when I go from light to dark
Ya know, she said, the dark is pretty good protection
If I don't smell urine, I know it's a fresh spot
Undiscovered, ya know, like a secret"
She closed her eyes again
As though she didn't want to talk anymore
I wondered why she felt like telling me
Anything about her life and circumstances
Then I realized,there's no way to define
Just how much we need each other
How much we mean to each other
And do we really know, what is most valuable in our life
And shouldn't we protect it with the sentry we trust most...
Ourselves
As its glow disappears on the horizon
I wonder, a comet, an asteroid, a falling star?
Then the thought of it disappeared
When I noticed a woman sitting on the curb
Sleeping against her shopping cart
I wonder if she was dreaming
Or if she was only half asleep
I once was told by a homeless man
"I never really fall asleep ya know...
why, my valuables would be gone by dawn"
I asked him what he considered most valuable
And he replied, "none of your business"
I wondered if he feared losing it to me
Or breaking a sacred trust with himself
I suppose that would be true with most of us
If we disclose too much about ourselves
It may redeem us or destroy us
The woman sleeping against her shopping cart
Awoke with a start as I gazed at her
She seemed to sense my presence and woke up
Where you from?, she asked
I answered, "why?"
"Cause this here place is scary", she said
She moved her cart directly under the street lamp
I suggested she go to the mission for food and help
She replied, "ya see this here cart"
"Yes", I said
"Well, they wouldn't let me bring it inside to your mission
So, of course that was the end of it.
My bottles, my cans and well, never mind about the rest."
"I'm so sorry, you must have felt violated", I said
"But you should be fine under this light
Cause I know it stays on till sun-up"
"Oh that don't matter" she said
"I'd sleep on my cart, but here I'm likely to
Get tipped. It's happened before ya know
That's how I got this here bum shoulder
So I can't lift my arm up too far
Guess I won't be pickin any peaches
My gramma used to make the best peach pie
Anyways, it knocked out a few teeth...
That really pissed me off good
No beauty pageants for me, huh!
So now I only lay up on it in the park
When the ground is too cold for sleepin'
That's when I go from light to dark
Ya know, she said, the dark is pretty good protection
If I don't smell urine, I know it's a fresh spot
Undiscovered, ya know, like a secret"
She closed her eyes again
As though she didn't want to talk anymore
I wondered why she felt like telling me
Anything about her life and circumstances
Then I realized,there's no way to define
Just how much we need each other
How much we mean to each other
And do we really know, what is most valuable in our life
And shouldn't we protect it with the sentry we trust most...
Ourselves