Rag Doll on Sidewalk
by Clara Hsu

    Rag doll on sidewalk,
    long curls hide the shame.
    Tattered covering, squalid feet,
    whisky mixed with piss.
    Stubble mug, vacant stare,
    obscure tongue muttering
    at pedestrians, at dogs,
    at himself on defecated sheet.

    Rag doll on sidewalk,
    your mother in heaven weeps.
    Once a bundle wrapped in cloth,
    now ravaged and scorned with spit.
    Those strong arms carting you
    are not your savior's.
    It's their job to come once a week
    here to clean the street.






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