To the Boy on the Street

He's just a person who finds happiness in nothing but hope

and escapes the clutches of poverty with nightly dreams.

 

He's just a fighter who is content to wait at the intersection

for a spare bit of change that he knows will never come.

 

He's just a child, stubby fingers caked in grime

brushing the heels of fat, well-fed figures passing on the street.

 

He's just a boy who's fallen through the cracks

beaten flat by the stampeding feet of oblivious cows.

 

He's practically a baby with no roof over his head

and no nightlight except for the city neons.

 

He is innocence, helpless and in desperate need

of a miracle or perhaps even an explanation.

 

He is exhausted; his tiny shoulders crumple beneath the world's weight

and he closes his eyes forever, hoping for better luck in Heaven.

Author's Note

I don't know. Leave thoughts, please.

Reviews

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

So sad. So true. I see him every day until it breaks my heart. Compelling and touching. Agonizing vignette of a life extinguished too soon. Unnoticed. This is what America is becoming. I feel your tears.

[Knightingale]

Sorrowful and vivid. I've said it before, but you have a way of painting pictures with words.

[Glen Yumang Manese]

The agony of defeat carries this one... I had a hard time reading to the end of it... not because of the writing... because of the subject matter... I was waiting of a happy ending... and then you just pour it on in the ending... There's a place for hope even when we only have our last breath for heaven...

[KeeD]

brushing the heels of fat, well fed figures passing on the street.. I see this everyday and it breaks my heart.. I live in a country where poverty is the outcome because of over population and various other reasons and I see kids, kids who should be playing, enjoying the fruit of youth, begging and working in the heart of the unforgiving sun and the merciless moonlight. You brought all the emotion and what an ending, hoping for better luck in heaven.. poem that makes the reader get up and think.. on how he/she can make a difference. really nice write.

[Luna Evangeline]

Thanks dear!:) It's said, isn't it..

[Luna Evangeline]

*sad :) :P

[KeeD]

heartbreaking.. :(

[jacob erin-cilberto]

the poem is heart wrenching, raw and very real..

the ending almost surrealistic...

but perfect for this poem, maybe better luck there, yes.

[jvava]

I really enjoyed reading this because it is so well-written. I loved the 'better luck in heaven' part - that really got me thinking. This is one of the best poems on Writer's Cafe, I'd bet. Amazing job. Keep up the good work!

[Joshua David Dary]

This is, to be honest, one of the best poems I've read in quite a while. You paint such a vivid picture, and I feel as though the ending is even more "heavy" than you even meant it to be. Bravo.

[De 'Anthony Subban II]

I like your word choice

[Michael Stevens]

This pom is quite good; images painted with words!

[Simon Welsh]

Sometimes hope can be a shelter. I like this.