Carefueled Charges

You are charged with a misdemeanor, based on witnesses who thought they head you saying you were leaving even though you knew you dinged this red truck's door. I know they saw me like that but that's because they could not hear I was the driver ahead of them holding out a $5 or $10 or even a $20, if that was the least I had, to any one beside the road wearing a self-made person sign: Homeless Please help me. I never pass these opportunities to help. You see I have an oldest son now twenty-one who is not quite right and tries his best but finding and keeping a peaceful train of thought, much more a job, is hard for him and so he stays where he may be welcome despite what he can ill afford to rest on other's dime and time. I never pass a chance to help when need for help is obvious as the tears we face when humanity feels disgraced, effaced by race, knowing only left behind to do the best they can to ask us to do our best, we can, to help when they approach us with life's nutritional concerns. I make it my business to always try to help when someone's in our mess. It would be too out of character to know me as these have heard, doing my best to avoid a dinged your door responsibility, because if a mess I caused I had no interest to not confess and then open my eager to be warmed wallet, already too long-suffering of neglect. But I do confess, these are all my messes, and yours as well. We have too often acclimated to this culture, where we do not actively care for one another, and so not so much for ourselves either. I hope to treat each mess we cause as gently and lovingly as I so hope someone right now will find the faith to see within my homeless not quite right son's asking eyes: Would you help me, us? Do you know yet, already, we are in this together, or we are out to fall and lose apart? If you see him let him go do not hold him by his toe be not mean or bad in return. Try with me to relearn he's done his almost best to get it more almost right next time. So feel free to lavish praise on how close he might have come to doing better. This helps him, and you, feel and remember better and perhaps even rather less than worse. It would be my misdemeanor to not do my best wherever I see our mess. I confess I cannot see me in this way. These watchers and listeners and speakers against me must misunderstand, yet perhaps that's all to life's good. Makes me wonder how they would see me if they had recognized that guy in front, stopped to say yes to each homeless mess, could we all better take time enough to just say yes to benefits of doubt?