All that, Max, but I do think you see it all with clarity, including the speaker's own eyes...
Doug
On 2013-07-03, at 6:22 AM, Kenneth Wolman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Strikes too close to home. The streets here are full of beggars. Ugly.
>
> K
>
> On Jul 2, 2013, at 8:04 PM, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Beggars
>>
>> Outside a Seoul department store,
>> the Buddhist priest smiles in our eyes,
>> proffers an amulet and blessings,
>> extracts coins and a signature.
>> Our coins are not enough. Too bad.
>>
>> Legless, the Korean beggar,
>> torso dressed in inner-tube rubber,
>> propels himself by hand
>> through the street crowd
>> behind a box on wheels.
>>
>> Music resounds from his box,
>> cheery, counter to his spectacle.
>> The towering bustling crowd
>> responds mostly with ignore,
>> a little with charity.
>>
>> Yesterday's beggar was the same
>> but without music. Would he
>> have done better or worse?
>> Tomorrow's beggar? -
>> but we will be flying home.
>>
>> Melbourne's beggar is tall,
>> his winter coat dark as his beard,
>> cap thrust forward, muttering,
>> convincingly derelict.
>> As we select which cafe door
>> to enter, he is easy to ignore.
>
Douglas Barbour
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