Because we all want to write more poems.
B.
He lives in a van near the park off Broadway.
He's lived there since I met him
Five years ago. At a poetry reading.
He's not a poet, he'll tell you.
But he can draw.
At the time, he was enrolled in
The graphic arts program at
Whatcom Community College.
He used the lab computers
He didn't own one.
He struggled with Web Design
But he could draw.
He got his certificate
But he is in his sixties
And he lives in a van
Near a park
He's not going to find work
It's not going to happen
He's got some issues for sure
Depression and something else
Alcohol? Narcotics?
He spent his days at the Public Market
On a stool drinking tea
At the coffee kiosk
Grasping for conversation
From the regulars who recognized him
He was studying buddhism,
I couldn't help him
I felt bad about it then
But I know more about that now.
We all have demons
We can't be battling each other's
He got kicked out of the Market eventually
No surprise but now what?
He just sits in his van.
Reminding me of myself.
- Neil McKay's Shared Poems
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Comments
Neil McKay
February 27, 2012
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I wrote this a couple weeks
I wrote this a couple weeks ago and didn't publish it. I'm not sure why. I guess it wasn't ready. But I haven't added anything to it and now it seems ready.