Day 14 of MyNaPoWriMo (write a poem a day for a month!)

Helen of 110th and Amsterdam

No ships came for her yet she stared 
at the crowds as if facing the sea, 

expecting no one and nothing
to look at her as they hurried

by, heads bobbing at the crosswalk;
day after night she knelt on concrete,

holding a cardboard placard 
with “Spare Change” painted on it -- 

beauty was in her green eyes, the way 
she held up her head like a queen; 

I stopped to give her what I had 
when I went home -  a sandwich, a dollar, 

a cup of juice  -- she nodded her thanks 
each time, never telling me her name.
I remembered her today, when I was watching the news and saw a piece on the occupy
movement.
0

Your Cart