empty

we weren't really arguing. more forcefully discussing. discussing the man on the street. the man crouched by the light post. the man with the cup in front of him. the man with the overgrown peppered beard looking toward the crowd running past him. not really running. more like too busy to stop. or the baseball game i am walking to is about to start and i don't want to miss the first pitch too busy. so they run past. or walk past. not looking. doing anything but look. if you look you need to make an excuse. you can't just say you didn't see. you didn't see the man with the cup. the empty cup.

so we forcefully discussed. why. why didn't people stop. too busy? blind maybe. then why were they going to a game they needed to watch. that couldn't be it. no money? really? then how did you pay for the tickets to the ball game? i am sure that five dollar bag of peanuts wasn' t the only thing you ate that day. afraid?afraid of being touched by the homeless? afraid of looking someone in the eye? afraid of your schedule being interrupted? afraid of realizing he is just like you and me? maybe because he will use the money for alcohol. and? it's not our money. it's God's. so he will have to stand before his maker some day. and so will we.