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Footsteps Echo Deep

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A homeless man shivers as the sun sinks, while sleep tries to avoid dreams of freezing. Steam from a sewer grate grants forty winks as he lies on it, coughing and wheezing. In his head, drums, the beat of passing feet: it is almost impossible to sleep. For that ubiquitous sound is the street, where those pulsating footsteps echo deep. Ignored and forgotten, he awaits Day, as the rats of hunger gnaw at his guts. And little by little, he wilts away; while stinging remarks add salt to his cuts. The morning finds his bedroll soaked in pee: for had he gotten up, he might have died. The night air was forty below, you see: so he held it in, or at least, he tried. Some shelters provide a warm place to go, but he's viewed like an annoying splinter. And that insensitivity is so pervasive; he barely survives winter.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2018




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Date: 5/25/2018 7:46:00 AM
This is so beautiful and so sad. Your way with words is such an inspiration to me!
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Emile Pinet
Date: 5/25/2018 9:16:00 AM
Thank you so much Anna, I appreciate all your comments my friend, Emile
Date: 5/24/2018 3:07:00 PM
Awesome poem, Emile. You have such a gift when it comes to empathy. Well penned.
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Emile Pinet
Date: 5/24/2018 5:10:00 PM
Thank you so much Line, I'm grateful for all you do for me my friend, Emile

Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry