Imprisoned Lives

A faceless man in perfectly pressed Dockers

Drives a blue SUV with environmental stickers

And pretends not to notice the old man

Whose sad blue eyes can see through his skin

And into his soul.

Who is more free, really?

The young executive with three kids, a mortgage

and a cubicle?

His entire life expressed in more debt, less hope

And years ahead of the same.

Dying alone in an antiseptic nursing home;

Or...

The old man with a shopping cart, weathered face

And a corner square of sidewalk

Where he will eventually succumb to the elements.

Life much shorter, much slower and always

Dependent on the kindness of strangers.

Two men, one old, one young, one rich, one poor...

Both imprisoned.

Neither realizing himself behind the bars

Looking out.

Rather like a zoo.

The animals reaching out to one another

Across space and time, but never touching.

The man in the SUV terrified he will be contaminated

By need.

The homeless man horrified he will be contaminated

By want.

And the SUV speeds on.