Even Poems, Lost and Forgotten...Bring Joy.

Even poems, lost and forgotten, bring joy.

©-MFB III 

I found a poem once
crumpled in the grate
of a sidewalk sewer,
and I opened it carefully
for it was very old,
and I read the words
with great amazement,
penned by someone in 1933.
And it said:
I am one
with the streets now,
broke and without hope
I wander,
with only my
poetic skills intact,
and a rare gold watch that
my Great-Granddaddy gave to me,
which I won't need anymore
for time means little now.
So I have wedged it,
in the next sewer grate up,
this same street
in the far right corner
in a waterproof black bag,
behind that little niche
that looks like
a cathedral arch.
I have been sleeping
there as of late
and the arch was
my prayer chapel
as I got my heart
right with God.
I am leaving it
there as a reward
for whoever reads
this my last work,
a great depression has set in
and I will step out
and dance with a bus soon.
I have wedged this poem here
in such a way that only the
truly curious will seek it out,
much like lovers of poetry seek
out nuggets of wisdom and smile,
so I am rewarding you for being
the last to hear my thoughts,
like Ozymandias I was very wealthy
and lived in an ivory tower,
but I came crashing down
when the stocks fell,
and am left with no reason to go on.
So I am going beyond now,
into the hereafter,
but I leave all my worldly goods to you!

....and here it stopped with
a blotch of ink
for his pen must have been
as broke as he was,
and the watch which I recovered
was worth several thousand dollars,
and I framed it with the poem
to show the timelessness of giving
and sacrifice, and to show how
written words long left
and seldom received
by the masses, hold a spirit
that keeps them intact
and all those who do
pick such words
up for a while 
and smile are duly
rewarded for their time