He approached me on Santa Rosa Ave.
and pulled out a cigarette
I was waiting for a ride
"I'm looking for some ****, man-
the good ****"
I didn't have any
He told me about his life on the streets
"I'm out here because I started smoking crystal. I smoked crack for twenty years and held down a job. I had a home"
He was forced out of a half-way house
on the east side of town
It was burned to the ground two weeks after he was removed
He smiled and asked
"You want to know who did it?"