The Arms of Man

Strong men, upright and bold
will provide continuums of care
for the likes of a Florida man,
older than his years, past his prime
in a job serving up a blotched face
to noonday eaters.

Hear their spurs and song,
hear the comforting clank
of their silver spurs and the iron
horseshoe’s downward spiral dance
of another law rung up,
plunging the turds out of sight.

Our hero is on his knees
drawing a half circle around the bowl,
morning sparrows playing
at the window, heaving for the world
like tumbling into a ditch, wagon
long off the trail.

Put onto the Broad Boulevard
with all he owns: torn pants
and worn shirt, ball cap soiled,
without a lunch or a bed passing
like a ghost among throngs reveling
in the great Sunshine State.

He goes on down to the bay
where diamonds flash over water
determined to relinquish his only prize
since She is determined to have him,
one act of dignity to dive and meet her
halfway in a final, his own, act.

Prone before action he is flooded in light.
Circled by flashlights attached
to the undeniable vigor of upright men,
he is put in wraparound service cuffs,
assessed as not blotched by drugs
and returned to the arms of man.

 

RIP Bob Graham
The brave men and women of Tallahassee have made it unlawful for the homeless to sleep in public places, and this comes at a time when baby boomers–the elderly–are rapidly becoming the fastest growing group finding themselves without a roof over their heads. The language of the bill includes the colorful phrases, “wraparound services” and “continuums of care.”