Away

Away

 

 

commiserating with the bum on the corner

we share his fading Jim Beam thoughts

toss quarters into drawn boxes on the sidewalk

 

he owns,

his turf

his eyes dance as someone flips him a coin

 

he says he will work for food

but I tease and tell him I know better

he just wants a new bottle,

"It's his bag, man"

and it's in his bag, man

 

he could be quarters richer

but those whiskey thoughts

haunt his future

procure his present

color his past

 

with whatever got him to this block

this corner

this lot in life

 

on which his condemned house

condemned marriage

condemned mirage

of a utopia

 

all gone

all sipped

all slipped

 

away.

 

 

erin-cilberto

3/13/24

Reviews

[Desert Knave]

After awhile what seems a choice simply isn't one any longer. I love the visual elements of this and can easily picture the quarters in the drawn box. Well done. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Jim, thanks for your words.
And more are becoming these poor, while the rich thrive.
j.

[Pete]

sad but true. do we choose it or does it choose us. life can be hard. many can only cut it on the fringe. just because they're down, we mustn't ever count them out. salvation lies within.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

What a scary thought, Pete...that it chooses us.
I lived for 20 or more years a paycheck away from the streets...I do get what you are saying.
j.

[Pete]

makes me wonder sometimes as i do know a lot more alcoholics than i do philosophers and poets.

[Thomas W Case]

I've been there and it's a nightmare. Tremendous wok. You paint the picture with empathy.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I am sorry to hear that you've been there...I was close...we just get the wrong breaks sometimes...

[Stella Armour]

it is sad really Jacob, i do occasionally give a begging druggy a bit of small change , i know what he will do with it but at the same time he is harmless, down and out because of an addiction he can't fight.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

addictions string us out in more ways than one.
j.