.:Who am I?:.
Who am I?
You know me.
We see each other every day though you rarely notice me.
You never see the pain in my face, or my heart.
Would it, I wonder, be so bad for you?
Who am I?
I am the child you wish
you had never had.
The one who always disappointed you.
The one different from
the other children.
Did you ever take
the time?
The time to find out who I was, and why I hurt?
Would it, I wonder, have been so bad?
Who am I?
I am your brother, the one who as children you hated because I was different.
I saw things through eyes different than yours.
I am the brother, who as the years fade into the twilight, no words are spoken, no contact is
made, as each passing
year falls surely behind
us, not even a Christmas do we spend, no greetings exchanged.
Would it, I wonder, be so bad for one getting, to give?
Who am I?
You know the one,
The same church we
both go.
Why is it you do not sit
by me?
Is it my clothes? Though not as fair as yours, they truly are my best.
Is it I wonder, because
you notice that many Sundays come and go,
and then and there that I have nothing to put into
the offering? Why, my friend, I must ask, is your hand and your gaze so cold...when I offer you my hand and my heart in peace?
My hands are rough, scarred and broken from my life of labor, but my heart is warm, pure.
Would it, I wonder, be so bad for you?
Who am I?
You know me.
I am your neighbor, The one who leaves before the sun breaks the darkness.
To my labor I go, my
body racked with pain, to find only more of the
same as the day grows slowly to an end.
Though my body is no longer fit for the labor
I do, alas I have no
choice.
Who am I?
I am the neighbor, whom when you see, you turn, so that it is only your back that I see.
Would it, I wonder, be so bad to say, hello?
A friendly greeting I
would give, if only you would give me the chance.
I wonder, at the times you see me, if you have ever asked yourself, why?
Why someone so young, looks so old?
Why he has that stoop in his back?
Why his hands are so broken, his eyes so old?
I wonder, I wonder, would
it be so bad?
You know me.
I am behind you in the grocery.
I smile in greeting,
sharply you turn away.
Is it because your basket
is nearly full, while mine
is nearly empty? Your
total rings large, and with large bills you pay,
without worry of having enough.
My total rings small,
while I pray in my worn pocket, enough pennies I have to pay.
This day my prayer is answered.
Some days it is not,
and my basket becomes even smaller.
I wonder, what is it you think of, as you make
your way home?
Is it I wonder, that your thoughts are filled with gladness that your shopping is done, and that whether your evening
meal will be in your
home, or in your favorite
eatery?
Me? My thoughts are of only one thing.
Do I have enough to feed my family?
For myself I can go
hungry, for my children, I will do without.
My blood I will give to
see that they eat.
Would it, I wonder, be so bad, to look past the outside, and see my heart?
~finis~
Copyright © R. Duncan O'Finioan 
About