I close my eyes
And wait for what may come

And then, I remember the man
With the sore skin and red face
Who passed me by today

In the blank spaces of my mind I recall
The woman praying
As a young child drops a penny in her cup
And then
The elderly man on his knees
Holding out his begging cap

I remember the light rain
Moistening the coats of thrifty shoppers
As an African lady pulls a one wheeled trolley
Noisily along the cobbled pavement

People with blunted expressions
Talk of how they will spend their Christmas
Now that we cannot be together
And I sense
The dim reflected light of despair
In their eyes

How much more
Do we have to take
Before we emerge from this storm?

And I ask myself
What is left
When everything else is taken away?