Cold Driving Rain

It's raining. Cold driving rain. Commuters rushing home from work Home to hubby, wife and family Spot and Cleo And a fire on the stove. Another day of brutal business Accounts are squared And errands run No more phone calls No more hassles Watch some boob tube Think of sex Spare some change, sir Spare some change, ma'am I haven't eaten for three days You haven't washed for three days either Get a job, you dirty bum I wonder how my stocks are doing Shelter some money in a tax-free fund Spare some change, sir Spare some change, ma'am Walk past quickly and ignore him He just wants a shot of booze Please sir Spare some change, sir And the rain keeps pouring down... All is quiet on the street now Two a.m. of a Tuesday night All is quiet, all is peaceful Save for the drizzling of the rain Gently tapping The lifeless body Huddled on the pavement Spare some change. ~ Laurence Overmire (Previously published in Rinse & Repeat, Scars Publications,1999; The Poet's Porch, Nov.2000, Poetry Soul to Soul, Apr.2002; World's Strand Anthology,2008)