Let ‘Em Die

I always take the route to work

that leads past the homeless camp

the day laborers

waiting like orphans

beside the river

I won’t forget such realities

won’t shut my eyes to them

I won’t become like that old man

who once scoffed and said—

“The Homeless”, psshht!

I call them bums

cuz that’s what they are!

Fuckin’ lazy bums!

he hated welfare of any kind—

thought we should

shrink the government

small enough to drown it

in a bathtub

he was all about

free will, bootstraps,

and rugged individualism—

mental illness...drug abuse...

They don’t exist

in my world, he said

sometimes I wish

he was sitting here beside me

as I drive slowly past

I’d like to see him deny

those dozens of eyes

how they follow

the light in them faded

like a once bright blue tent

under the merciless sun