The Homeless Man

a homeless man pushes his shopping cart
full
of
messy stuffs
of odds and ends
a man-on-street’s lifetime possession
and daily belongings
adequate
for his simple living

(without a family to be responsible for
neither a wife to rely on
nor any kid to support)
not much else in life
he is in need of

anyway, the less load on his back,
- the comfier he carries on
- the easier he goes forward
- the less worrisome he becomes
- no fear of loss he has to cope with

this way of life is very modest
it easily gives a sigh of relief
he enjoys rubbing on his half-full stomach
and laying his back down
on a warm blanket
over cold concrete
inside an alcove of any building at night
or sharing with another homeless a cigarette

not much to worry about
except
in winters
on heavily snowing days
when the whole city is painted in white
temperature drops to two digits below zero
the freezing
cold
bites on the numb skin
cuts deep into the flesh
and drills inside the bone
it makes every living being feel
as if blood inside the heart would be gradually frozen

he usually doesn’t go to emergency shelters
since he hates to abide
by
regulations and rules
and they have tons of them
of which he cannot handle even only one

it’s quite ironic
at the time whenever he mostly needs it
all shelters in town become
overcrowded
no space
left
for the one who come late
alas he ain’t good enough
to go
with the flow of time

living on the streets
the homeless man isn’t
always worry
free
anyhow one way or another
he has been survived for
many freezing winters so far

hey, would those billionaires,
in luxury penthouses
surrounded
by
sexily erotic
and long-legged beauties,
enjoy life more and have less headache than the homeless?

Thao Chuong Tran Quoc Viet