Thanks for Giving

Evening; crowds rush frenetically to
fully stocked markets
 preparing for Thanksgiving;
 
she beds down on large
contaminated boxes,
 
dimming streetlight, her only warmth as she
sleeps with the night. 
 
Morning; devoted families prepare
to unite in abundance as she ravages
 
a dumpster behind McDonald’s
desirous for her “breakfast
 
of champions”, or just one morsel.
 
Later; giggling children frolic innocence,
their stained holiday outfits bleeding outlines
 
of brown gravy and blueberry, while she praises
God’s benevolence for directing
 
her to her newly acquired Couture
tattered dress buried in the rusted
 
bottom of a trash can hidden
away in her playground; a caliginous alleyway.
 
Twilight shimmers contentment,
loved-ones’ count blessings as she hunts refuge from
 
uncertain weather, a newspaper blanket her only ammunition
to arrest a pitiless whipping wind.
 
Evening; holding memories tight, another
holiday passes for the grateful,
 
she glances up as a compassionate, well-dressed
woman reeking of designer perfume passes her
 
a twenty dollar bill,
 
her desperate tears wash her dirty
cheek numb and with words hardly audible,
she thanks, for the giving.