Drumbeat
 

He walks hatless
and rain-careless
on this gray day.

His face merges
with his black coat.

Clutching

Brown-bagged dreams,
he concentrates
on his measured steps.

Moving
yet unmoved,
he is invisible.

Our comfort
is not disturbed

                Man and Dog

I saw him standing still
and at first did not realize
his dog was there,
standing quietly by his heel.

I watched as he searched through
the contents of his tattered
plastic shopping bag
and wondered, judging
his rumpled unkempt look,

Is he a tramp or just
secure without fine clothes ?

He took one small step
and the dog did not let
his distance grow by one inch.

The man looked at me,
smiled a pleasant day
then bent and picked some scrap
from the dirty city snowbank,

examined it, took two more steps;
it was then I felt the bond
which his knowing smile repeated.

Unwanted, the scrap rejoined the snow
and he continued carefully
along the icy sidewalk,
not once looking back.