come, come get your
daily dose: only twenty
sweet, sweet dollars and a
lifetime of guilt, no
more, no less

we buy it from your
shops, they promise us
more than they have to offer, but
we don't ask for refunds- go back only
to gobble, to pluck and to feast on
the words they told us,
too empty-

empty? you? but you have
so much, too much,
drop after drop we spooned
it down your throat to
wake you in the
freezing mornings: your nose is
red, but only as is the homeless
man’s blood on your
doorstep-

but if he wakes from the ashes
into pain to
offer it to you: pulling open his
trench-coat jacket, shady
side salesman/conman, remember
to shove it away, how do you dare
take from men that aren’t
yours- you must help him, just
today, just today, because maybe
tomorrow you can stop

stop, stop along
the street corner, sidestep
fallen bodies- there is the fallen yellow flyer,
come join us, join
the bleeding hearts club