Twenty-eight Dollars by John Meyers

I just gave a homeless person money
and I touched her hand
It was somewhat calloused
She is one of many I see
along the daily route
tanned and leather-skinned
dirty and beaten down
street-weary eyes
surprisingly beautiful
I am lucky
I eat when I want
my home has a roof
my kids go to school
if I give a dollar a day
to four people in need
that’s twenty-eight dollars a week
I don’t care what they do with the money
I’m way past caring about that
they are all in pain
I am rarely in pain

# # #

John Meyers lives and writes in Maryland. His poems and stories appear or are forthcoming in The Louisville Review and Fiction Southeast, among others. His flash story “The Blue Maverick Crew” is a finalist in Fiction Southeast’s 2017 Ernest Hemingway flash fiction prize contest, his story “The Rolex Adventurer” was runner up in Able Muse’s 2016 Write Prize contest, and his story “Motorbike” won Pulp Literature’s 2016 Micro-fiction contest. John once worked for Ringling Bros. Circus. Read more here.

Photo credit: Larry Thacker   www.larrydthacker.com

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