What’s It All About?

The homeless, marvelous diverse
Community, sit huddled against the cold
On benches meant for more affluent folks.
They colonize each grassy spot.
Their rusting shopping carts
(Heaped with the frayed detritus of their lives,
With can-filled bulging bags—
That day’s hard scrabble wage),
Testify to mute despair.
What are they thinking, huddled there?
What dreams provoke their lives?
Trembling beneath layered rags,
Do they, too, yearn for bliss
(A simpler bliss by far!)—
For warmer days, a lucky find
Of half-eaten food amidst the trash?
Perhaps the cycled cans will generate
A modest fix, a jar of wine.
What are they thinking, huddled there?
What will tomorrow bring?
                               (12/13/07)