Let us remember, finally, that man on the corner
that lonely soul who walked the streets alone
took shelter beneath the trees
before he could ever find it in our hearts.

Let us remember all the times he walked by
smiled and waived as we drove to our lives
each of us pursuing vastly different days
to sleep more comfortably through the night ahead.

Let us remember that precious neighbor
who wasn’t a neighbor at all,
for we gave him no quarter
lest that quarter depreciate our own

Let us remember the tragedy was not his death
but rather the life we allowed him to live
for when it was tasked of us to give
we gave only the scraps we felt for us unfit.

In his death, let us finally remember that man on the corner
though we couldn’t be bothered when it might have mattered.