Begged Possession

The light was dim, the corner was damp In the darkness sat a beggar An empty bowl beside,with a small lamp. The clock on the tower was showing nine At night; the beggar looked And shivered, the breeze was blowing fine. The streets were deserted, not a soul, The beggar looked down And sighed, not a coin in his bowl. The lamp, deprived of oil,started flickering, Now both darkness and dampness, Oh! What a life he was enduring! Ragged and tattered, no shelter or food, Nobody now to beg to, On the pavement now, nobody stood. Leaning against a cold mossy wall, He closed his eyes, and In the land of dreams, he started to fall. All of a sudden, there were sound of boots, The beggar opened his eyes; Two men coming, in the most elegant suits. A sudden joy rushed through his mind If only something to get Maybe they'd be less harsh, more kind. And so he managed to call one of them And asked for a coin - But, surprisingly today, his head hung in shame. The two looked at him with plain faces And he felt like being beaten By a hundred maces. And when he managed to look up, They had gone - The two of them, without a trace, had gone. And he looked at his bowl, Nothing...nothing... Except, only one one coin of gold! Awestruck, Fascinated, Amazed He poised over his new possession, By its shine, he was dazed! But then, in an instance, he felt again - Was that coin for him A boon or a bane? Would it urge him to create A better world for himself - Or would it throw him into The shackles of greed and mistake?