Sheila's Dribs 'n Drabs

One man searches garbage, finds discarded food and drink. One man searches sidewalk gaps for pennies. One man searches strangers’ eyes and asks them for loose change. Another leaves the asking to the dog. One man plays a fiddle, one guitar, one sitar too. Another one sells papers no-one reads. Patiently, they strive to stay alive. One man studies business forms and vows to clear the streets. One man studies plaintiff’s claims and tries to keep things neat. One man says you’ll make them stay dependant evermore, and patiently despises, won’t revise the law or help, for their own sake.

“I hate them,” he shouted, flinging his shoes across the room. “Why?” asked his mother. “Nobody wears white shoes. They stink.” “But they look so nice.” “They don’t. They’re horrible.” The shoes stayed hid in a closet as the season passed. Then the boy’s mother told him to tidy his room. “Where’s your nice white shoes?” she asked him later. “I dunno. Must have got mixed up with all that junk I was throwing out.” An orphan searched the dump for food. White shoes that he found in a bag kept his feet from getting cut, and that was good.