The man .. or woman .. who either disdains or fears to walk up
The darkest of entries may be an excellent being –
Fit for a thousand good things – but he or she may not
Make a good person to sit with their own spirit.
I count so little of the things that I see pass
By me at broad noon in the open street.
My nature is shy and I hate spectators yet in
Such unobserved corners I sometimes see the
Fault in my nature –
But is not nature simply nature after all?

Through a long lit wide passage the air opens
Into the narrowest of streets trodden upon by
The many who humbly await their turn to speak.
They get oft in my head until they at last
Are given their silent turn to audition for my inner word play -
The one that I know I will reproduce later –
Oh they all read their own lines one after
The other as I secretly score their performance.
I can tell always when they have struck a chord in me
Because their score is measured within my laughter - or my tears.

I pretend to call out next - and the next one begins their reading ...
And thus here it goes….

Two ladies were standing arm in arm 5 paces from me
With their backs against the wall – I edged up
Within a yard or so of them and quietly took my stand.
I was all dressed in black and scarcely seen – as were they –
The lady to my left was a tall lean figure of a woman
Of about forty: the other woman the same size and make
At about age forty six.
There was no look of wife or widow in either of them –
They seemed to be two upright vestal sisters –
Unblemished by caresses – unbroken by tender salutations.

I wished to my soul that I could somehow make them happy
But I knew that this night their happiness was to come from
Some other quarter, a place not far away from my heart.
Behind me I heard voice, a shrill voice which had within
It the sweetest of cadence about it, it was asking for two and twenty dollars.
Having had my thoughts so impetuously shattered I turned to
See the owner of the voice - thinking “For the love of Heaven,
Has begging gotten onto to such a science that now the beggar is allowed
To ask for the exact amount of charity that his need requires? ”

As for the two women,
They seemed as astonished by the request as I for
The request was about an outlandish thing – near
Twenty two times more than what one would normally
Give in the daytime – let alone in the dark.
“Twenty two dollars!” one of the ladies exclaimed
Laughing while the other lady shook her head in disbelief.
The poor man then said, “I know not how to ask for less
Of ladies of your rank and beauty,” and then he took off
His tumbleweed hat and bowed down his head
As if he were in the presence of royalty.

The beggar remained silent in his bow and after a
Minute or two he renewed his supplication with,
“Do not my fair ladies, please do not stop your one good ear
Against me – for I have a need of the amount and I’m
Not used to begging so forgive me if my asking is out of rule.”
The older of the two replied, “My good man, between the two
Of us we do not have the money that you require for we carry
No cash.”
“Then God bless you”, the man cried “And may God multiply
Your joys by which you so graciously give to others while without any cash.”

I then observed the younger woman reaching into her purse.
“I have a twenty she said,” as she pulled the bill free of her clutch
Handing it straightaway to the man but he shook his head no.
“I must have twenty two”, he replied, “Surely you must have two more,
Has not nature been good to you?” he asked “I see she has been
Bountiful to you – please be bountiful to a poor man in need.”
Still holding out the twenty she answered, “If I had it I would.”
He turned back to the older one and said, “My fair charitable woman,
What is it but your goodness and humanity which makes your eyes
So sweet – they outshine the morning even in this dark passage.
I only just heard the lawyer and the doctor over there talking
About how beautiful the two of you are as I passed by them.”

I watched as the two ladies seemed to be much affected and to my
Amazement the older one of them reached into her purse and pulled
Out another twenty and both of them handed them to the man.
The context between them and the beggar was no more but it continued
On between the two of them even after the man had walked away.
I stepped on hastily after him touching him on the shoulder
To get his attention and as he turned he shoved the forty dollars in his pocket,
“I could have you arrested for panhandling,” I said as he turned around.
“Panhandling?” he asked, “I was not panhandling,” he responded.

“When was the last time that you heard of a panhandler getting an eighteen dollar tip?”