“Thank you, thank you, thank you

    credit cards spilled from a wallet,
documents I failed to figure out how to copy,
the changed passwords, the missing cable,

And now the remains of lunch such as it was,
A mostly emptied OIKOS key lime flavored
Greek yogurt carton? Cup? Container?
A weak peanut butter sandwich, I forgot to shop.

I do not know what I should know.

Why are my lips numb?

Why does most everything I touch tumble out of reach?

Why can’t some Gorgon corner Donald Trump?

Why does the young woman with two kids keep begging in front of the Bank of America?
I mean hundreds pass her up each day, her and her children,

the kids keep tugging away at her for comfort, shelter, food,
they are needy, she too, deeply ashamed and so in need,

Maybe the guitar players with their coin ready cases open before them
will come up with an impromptu benefit concert for her,
right here, this day, on this spot before the Bank of America,
next to Cheeseboard Pizza, a place that has good music going on right now,
music and pizza and beer, can’t they within see her need without, her family’s?
they could chip in themselves, could goad the crowd into doing something wonderful,
they could pass the hat around and place it before this dark haired woman,
she could then lift her eyes, she could say thank you thank you thank you,
instead of turning them away, trying to avoid the shame she must feel in her need,
they could say to her, it’s nothing, but you all are in such a real jam, and these coins,
these bills,
we hope they’ll help, and we sure hope you will have much better days soon,
but most likely they will do nothing of the sort, some might, most won’t.

And she finally looks at them and smiles as they walk away up and down Shattuck Avenue
To continue their day, and the late summer sun is finally out,
Reddening our uncovered faces, and bringing unwanted heat
To the many wildfires up north of us, and the traffic coughs away,
And the weekend will be here soon, with football, parties and thoughts of rain,
We need the rain, truly do, water is running low, rationing helps,
But any more of this drought puts us in a deeper fix, we must plan better for the future
For it will come for most of us, wanted or unwanted, it all depends, doesn’t it?
And we do really not know what is to come, though we do know that it surely shall.