How many eyes looked but never saw him?
How many heads shook in sadness but quickly turned away?
What does late afternoon sun in May feel like in a long sleeved shirt?
He could tell you...
Weary eyes downcast probably knowing the hesitation most felt
How many prayers had he said before sitting by the highway?
The battered dirty cardboard sign written in faded marker
read "homeless please help"

Traffic moved when the light turned green so did the knife in my chest
Anger poisened already warm blood as our suburban moved on
Tears threatened to pour
Nobody would ever do anything
His little girl sat hidden beneath a tree
Does she ask when they will go home?
I know none of these things
But I'll never forget the feeling when we turned around
Nor the look on his face when the simple forty dollars was extended
A heaviness still looms I wish we could've done more
Though his name is a mystery he will stay with me always
Suddenly I was thankful for that stop light at 3:27 PM



*Authors note*

This actually happened this afternoon I had never seen anything like it before and the feeling that stuck with me is really hard to explain I'm so thankful that we did end up turning around because i never wanted to be the kind of person to just say oh that's so sad and never do anything about it

Your kindness and compassion will come back to you many times over. Thanks for being that caring person!