I guess at one time I was great,
Great in the eyes of all,
Looked at in all my glory.
Now it is lost forever,
It is all over for me now;
I went from rags to riches and back,
From under a bridge to a mansion,
And now here I am.
Where is this, anyway?
I see myself all tattered and torn,
Bruised and cut and bleeding.
Once I bought all I needed,
Now I steal to eat.
Once welcomed, now scorned.
I watch a family walk by me,
All neat and clean with smiles.
I ask gently for a dollar,
But the mother holds her daughter
And stares at my dirty face,
As the father hurries them along.
"No food tonight," I think. "Like usual."
My stomach hurts for food,
My tongue burns for drink;
I look at my dirty, folded hands,
Upon my dirty, cut up knees,
And all I think is, "Why?
Why does God punish me so?"
I look out into the street
And watch the cars, buses, and people
As they rush by me
In such a hurry to live
A life of work and pain;
No one sees me here.
All I want is a warm smile,
Maybe even a friendly hello.
People are too afraid of me to do that,
It's too much to ask.
Well, I guess I'll sit here on this bench,
Watch the people and fold my dirty hands,
And wait for each day to pass,
Each slower than the last.
Wait for it all to end.
Wait for it all to stop.
Wait for God's mercy.
Author notes
This poem is about 10 years old, it's one of the first I ever wrote and was my first one ever published.
Written August 10th, 2003
In a list
A contest entry
- Contest! by withdrawal.
300 points, ended March 7, 2005, 21 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
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This is very interesting. It truly is looking thru the eyes of the homeless.
The only thing I don't agree with is the whole thing with waiting for God's mercy. He does not bring pain or heartache, but I do understand that people see Him as the fixer of all things...so I can understand that viewpoint.
But anywayz, it was a great poem! Good luck, and thanks for entering. -
aim for the Shibby!!!
well this poem was very nice and i think i may understand what you were trying to get to with this so keep 'em comin' and again very nice work on this poem.
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