Gift

A person sleeps on the sidewalk.

Photo courtesy of Mihály Köles/unsplash.com

Here’s a gift:
merriment on a TV screen;
then a film on a small town’s
renaissance
to while away peaceful hours
preceding sleep

The steam of a scalding shower
gives way to ambient warmth,
and I watch the chilly night
from the safe comfort of a picture window
pedestrians along sidewalks far below
stagger under the force of an ice wind

The cozy comfort of this soft bed
lets me forget
last night’s trembling chill,
and barren hours
awaiting morning’s morsel of warmth

A gift
was passed from stranger to stranger-
bought with a credit card;
paid for
by a heart that ached
for the ordeal
of one who couldn’t come out of the cold last night

Warmth comes
in many flavors; at my window
I savor
the passionate glow
rising from the tender stranger I met last night

Then I slip
into the embracing mantle
of sleep
luxury
and love
the gift I was given
tonight.


Issues |Living Unsheltered

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