Pricetag On Life

Weather-worn face,
and wrinkles carved by the hands of the clock.
Eye riddled with the knowledge that this world is one of pain.
A toothless smile, with nothing left to grin about.

His hands, clasped under his chin,
have carried many a burden,
and hunched back known too many harsh words.

It's not begging,
when he's too ashamed to meet your belittling gaze.
It's nothing but the necessity to live.

Several coins in shaky, calloused hands.
Is this any hardship for you?
It's only saving another worthy life.

But just walk by,
hold your head high.
Pretend not to see the pain in his eyes.

He stands to walk away,
pockets empty,
and hope dragging like his feet.
Shoulders bowed against the tormenting wind,
eyes on the ground.

How dare you‽
Do you know where he'll sleep tonight, if at all?
On a park bench, cold metal digging into his spine?
Under an overpass, thundering cars rocking him to sleep, with squealing tires as his lullabies?
Or if he'll eat today,
tomorrow, or the next?

Let him slowly waste away.
Because you're so much better than he.
Because you couldn't spare the extra change,
or the time to glance in his direction.

That death won't be on your concious,
because he's just another nobody.
His face won't haunt your dreams,
because he doesn't deserve what you do.

Then again,
I have three toonies in my pocket,
and his worn jacket on broken-down shoulders
is only getting further away.

How dare we
judge who's life means less than our own?
How dare we
get to decide who lives and who dies?

If anyone were to have the heart,
the courage,
to approach him.
Just to ask what it feels like to walk until your feet bleed.
To not eat for days.
To sleep on cement mattresses, with nothing but the wind as a blanket.

Do you think that's an easy way to live?
Do you think he chose it for himself?

Someone who's lived a life like his,
someone who knows true hardships,
would never turn his nose up at you.
Never deny you of the life you were given.

Don't you think,
for one second,
that he would a price on your life.