September 23, 2010

  • The Unbearable Heaviness of Not Being

     
    With ceaseless hope the beggar tries
    Some honey ploys to catch more flies
    While each rebuke delays his plan
    They can’t dissuade this humble man
    He plods his path the best he can
     
    Encouraged by fast hunger pangs
    Around his neck a cross still hangs
    His faith unsure but worth a shot
    He uses every chance he’s got
    To gain himself a higher slot
     
    As night beds down his cardboard box
    He counts his change and dries his socks
    For morning’s trip to paradise
    And breakfast with the lord’s advice
    So grateful he will say grace twice
     
    As always he will strive again
    His daylight journey will begin
    And faithfully he’ll face the fight
    To make his life’s wrongs nearer right
    And hope his box is there tonight

Comments (5)

  • Your words are so simple upon first reading, then my thoughts go off like fireworks.

  • I only had five minutes to quickly check your site out of curiosity. And time more-than well-spent; it breaks my little heart to see a poem these day which manages to combine disciplined rhyme, meter, and a killer message. I shall return; don’t ever change, ha/ JS Tel Aviv

  • Well written. I don’t know if the not being makes him heavy or light though.

  • Dear Ben,

    The best description of the homeless lifestyle I’ve ever read.

    “So grateful he will say grace twice.”

    (And I love the AABBB rhyme scheme.)

    Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool

  • the title made me smile. the content made heart sunk a little.

    this is quite a sad existence.

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