A child on the street corner
dirty, hungry and pale
an object of everyone's stares
cheeks hollow, living bare
he plucks out the roses
torn and frayed
from a public park
and quickly runs away
and runs around in the rain
shriveled and shivering
trying to sell
the symbol of love
and the brave souls
walking in the chilly air
or bunched and hunched up
under their cozy wares
ignore this child
and pass him by
leaving him with
a broken smile
the smile that mends again
seeing another hunched pair
the smiling face,
the extended hand
yet again
the expectations began
at last a man walking by
bought all the roses at a time
the kid didn't even count the fare
ran to the sister and split it fair
his duty done
the day's work
he splashed around
and the rain and mud
the symbol of a carefree soul
still intact, still whole
