I sit nudged between two apartment buildings
A light snow dusts me
And I do my best to cover the patches of skin peeking from my jeans and the rapidly freezing toes that have escaped my weathered shoes
I am broken and bleeding
Day after day no one glances my way
With anything but pity
Or disgust
The life I was given has turned its back on me
And misfortune after misfortune
Has left me irreparably broken
My heart torn and shattered
My soul trampled
And through my futile efforts
To repair it
With needles and pipes
I have made this life my hell

I keep my head down as I walk from my apartment building
Shielding my face from the harsh sting of snowflakes
As I hail a passing cab
Through the foggy window I notice the woman
Nudged between my building and the one next door
I glimpse hell every morning in that woman's face
In her translucent skin
And searching gaze
She looks broken and defeated
And I pity her
Because the life I was given  came with nothing but good circumstances
I was nurtured and encouraged
And shielded from harm
Through both luck and
Tireless effort
I have made this life my heaven