I feel for those on the side of the road
Holding the sign of despair in hand
Is this what it's come to where all they can do
Is find a corner with what little they have left

You know the ones, the ones who never look up
Ashamed of where life has placed them
In the grand scheme of things the water is deep
You can see that without even saying

Where was the helping hand from the beginning
The lifeboat in their sea of doubt
Did we not see them gasping while desperately treading
Where all we have now is a measly hand out

When it comes to what matters aren't we all in this together
In this game of win or lose no one draws
Keeping the cardboard handy always at ready
Because holding the sign could be me after all

If you're ever on the riverside
where the sun beats your head
you would see the old man
selling hats of palm leaf
but you care not to notice him
having already smelled the sea
and too keen to cross the river
travel southward on the island
till the saline wind scalds your eyes
your skins itch to jump into the waves
yet the man with the palm leaf hats
would not cease to tell you
how burning would be the sun on the sands
and so badly you need to protect the head
by parting bucks that mean nothing to you
but a world to the mouths he feeds
and before you stamp on him a final no
she has one atop her hair
beneath which her eyes flutter like butterflies
her sun rouged cheeks untimely blush
and two born anew lovers
merrily head for the sea
having bought romance
for forty bucks.

Our eyes locked together
Chained for the better
I wanted to speak
But I didn't want to upset her
Working the courage up
I said 'What's up?',
I felt very foolish,
What's up? Who says that still?
She's looking nervous
Maybe she's thinking it was perverse
Like somehow up
was an innuendo on a *****,
I tried again, to reassure her,
'When I said up, I didn't mean my *****',
Oh god, I just said ***** to her,
She's throwing all kinds of strange looks
Do I tell her I'm copying some game books?
Do I tell her , I'm just kidding? Is it too late?
I stopped myself.

Waited for a response.

She's still staring into my eyes
Captivating my truth and lies
Her eyes the colour of blue
Well more azure, but as azure
as sure as the sky.

Her mouth gestured a smile,
Then her hands started moving,
Is she signalling me to hold her hands?
She's moving them an awful lot,
What do I do? What do I say?
I went and grabbed for her palms,
Interlocking my fingers between hers
And as it occurs
the man nearby looks at me
Mumbles
'She's speaking in sign language,
I think she's mute',

I took my hands away,
Hiding from the embarrassment,
I hope she doesn't consider it
Harassment,
I looked around,
Unsure of what I was to do.

I speak again, and last time I did,
It didn't go well,
So why would it go well now?
'I'm sorry for how awkward it's been,
I'm just a dumb and stupid teen,
But I think you're extremely pretty,
And if you don't mind can I take you out to the city?'

She looks at me , nods her head.
Then under her breath, I hear ,
'I would love to'.

Bright red like a tomato,
WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING ?