eulogy for a junkie
in the shadows of a new
morning
You lay
crumpled
in a downtown doorway
dead
the junk only made
the world for You
more of what it already
was
more filthy
more gritty
more lawless
more confused
and without purpose
except for the burden
of
one
more
day
there You are
on the nod
for Your very last time
You were a Brother
You were a Sister,
a Child of parents
somewhere long ago
maybe You were a Parent
Your clothes are torn, and filthy rags
Your hair a scabby mess
of
leaves
and
sand
and trash
You lay still
now
in the shadows
of a brand new
day
no more will we turn away from
Your outstretched fingers
black with life
underneath any fingernails which
haven’t been bitten down
until they bleed
Your breathless body
has become a monument
to the best this
world can offer
to the least of us
lying still now
crumpled in a
downtown doorway
in the shadows of a brand new day
Your veins are long ago places where
life once played
fare Thee well,
Beautiful Child
