[trippypig]

a child in the park

said hello to me today

she mustn't have been

four years old

not yet old enough

to be scared

of an old hobo

sitting on a bench

levity for my worn soul

a barrel fire

in blast winter cold

so rare to feel something real

i smiled a lot as a child

i remember ms gibson

her jocular bellow

‘ain't startin' this class

‘til that boy stops smiling’

the same ms gibson

who said

seriously this time

‘y’all poor, all of youse’

‘y’all ain’t amount to nothin’

i guess she knew

a teacher's clairvoyance

look at me now:

a hobo sitting on a bench

how did i get here?

how can i be so alone?

that a small child's hello

could move me so?