a child in the park said hello to me today she mustn't have been four years old not yet old enough to be scared of an old hobo sitting on a bench levity

a child in the park said hello to me today she mustn't have been four years old not yet old enough to be scared of an old hobo sitting on a bench levity for my worn soul a barrel fire in blast winter cold so rare to feel something real i smiled a lot as a child i remember ms gibson her jocular bellow ‘ain't startin' this class ‘til that boy stops smiling’ the same ms gibson who said seriously this time ‘y’all poor, all of youse’ ‘y’all ain’t amount to nothin’ i guess she knew a teacher's clairvoyance look at me now: a hobo sitting on a bench how did i get here? how can i be so alone? that a small child's hello could move me so?