An Empty Tin Can

A/N: This is another true story made into a poem. This happened to me about a year ago and yesterdays run in with the homeless man reminded me of it.

Snowflakes lightly fall on my face.

I hug my woolen jacket tighter.

I see them.

Their rugged, patched up jackets.

Their single peice of cardboard.

It reads:

Please Give Money For Food

Every Nickel Helps

One of them holds the sign.

The other holds a nearly empty tin can.

They are shivering.

She has dark hair, long but knoted.

He has blue eyes, filled with misery.

They could be brother and sister.

Or they could be lovers.

I do not know.

But they hold the sign and the can, waiting.

Nobody stops to give them anything.

By the end of the day they still have

An empty tin can.