The homeless man.
The homeless man.
I toss a few coppers and silver, they tinkle, into his tin.
Around me, is the racket of traffic and city "din",
I shudder as I walk away,
hoping someone will find somewhere quieter, for him to stay.
The city is hostile and distraction is all around,
but he is oblivious, just wants to be found
and for
money to be put into his tired hands.
He just wants passers by to take pity, understand.
A hairy, sleeping dog, it's head in his lap,
himself- slumped over, grimy, black teethe, tatty cap.
I wonder...
am I fueling his alcohol addiction?
I leave- before I encounter, from other people, any friction...
At least I cared in that moment, about his sad plight,
after all he is someone's Dad, brother, son -
now just an unwanted, abandoned sight....
About this poem
This is about the plight of the homeless.Should we take pity and give them money- or does it just serve to fuel their alcohol and drug addiction?
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Written on December 09, 2021
Submitted by ljsanders on April 25, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 110 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | X AABB CCXXX DDXEE FEF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 767 |
Words | 157 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 5, 5, 3 |
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"The homeless man." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/158847/the-homeless-man.>.
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