Hitchhiking

There one day he was
slovenly, sullen, solemn
to a cascade of memories 

through youth I often stood
impecunious my circumstance
naively at the edge

maladroit manners made manifest
by raise of thumb
watching, waiting wondering

hope ever restless
for that good Samaritan
obtuse and oblivious

that sanguine awakening
as a bridge appears
from yesteryear to now

my benevolence beckons
compelling me to signal
and ease his roving mind

but suddenly it comes
subtle, salient, sharp
with haste I continue

crudely cast by caution
towards realms of reason
I mourn an innocence lost