Just Rewards

There was an old dirty man, sitting on a bench in Central Park;
The sun was going down; it was starting to get dark;
As people hurried by he would beg and he would plead,
“Hello kind person, could you please help me?”

His approach would simply quicken their pace,
He had such a pitiful look on his face;
No one dared to look him straight in the eye;
He appeared on the verge of starting to cry.

Finally a fellow who looked down on his own
Approached the old man and said,
“Come on Pops let me take you to a home,
And help you get put in a bed.”

“Thank you sir,” the old man replied,
“But there’s another place I’d rather go,
I can’t find St. Patrick’s, as hard as I tried,
Could you lead me the way, if you know?”

So the kind fellow helped him up
And walked him to the cathedral doors;
Led him to a pew of his own
And left him to see him no more.

While riding the subway back to his flat
He found an envelope in the pocket of his coat;
He couldn’t believe the old man had done that
As he read the letter with a lump in his throat.

“Whoever you are, thanks for your help;
My real issue is I don’t know how to distribute my wealth.
So I pretend to be an old man in poverty
And reward those kind enough to assist me.

So take this 25,000 dollar check
And do with it as you will
This dirty old billionaire that you helped
You’ve provided a wonderful thrill.”

Now that poor guy that you stop to help
May not turn out to be me;
You may not end up with a surprise check
But you will be rewarded most certainly.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2011


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Date: 1/7/2011 10:08:00 PM
What a story! it's the heart that matter most in the end and that's the best gift of them all i think ;p
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Date: 1/7/2011 6:57:00 AM
I have told you numerous times,Joe, no one tells a story like you, and this one is no exception, just so appealing to the reader and so meaningful in its message of giving, oddly we have a St. Joseph Cathedral in my city, it is a most beautiful church, so I could truly envision that old man in the pew by himself, it jsut pulls at my heart strings, best of luck in the contest~~
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