Cathedral Doors
‘Give with good grace,
thanking your stars
that your state is not such as this poor beggar.’
This is Ruskin’s caution
but I do not give gladly—or at all
What do I fear?
Robbery? This broken thing
will steal my purse?
Futile to give a coin
to those fallen from the web
forms curled sleeping
on the frozen streets.
Stopped at a Traffic Island
But I do not give gladly
recoiling from the outstretched
dirty palm
the shapeless slept-in clothes
the urgent need
The sign “Homeless,
sick children, hungry”
churns my mute revulsion
Eyes averted, I wait
for the light to change,
drive away
the sign echoing in my head
The road encircles the island
where she stands
waiting for mercy
for a reprieve
to fall from the sky.
Lari Smith
Give with good grace,
thanking your stars
that your state is not such as this poor beggar.
-Ruskin