The Woman on the Street

Day after day

She sits

On the same corner

Of the same street

Smokin' joint after joint.

I've see her before.

She smiles at my children,

--An empty grin--

Then her bloodshot eyes

Land upon me.

Like steel,

Her eyes pierce

through my flesh

judging me

and hating me.

We share the same skin

Breathe the same air

Descend from the same tribe.

Yet, we do not

Know each other

Although our invisible footprints

Have crossed each other

Many times before.

I've shuffled past

the same corner before,

Choked on the same

foul air pollutants before,

And have endured

the same early morning

bitter cold before.

I've run past the same

rodent-infested alleys before

And watched the same school girls

turn into toys for johns before

Yet we know each other not.

Many nights,

I've wondered what tomorrow

and future tomorrows would bring

A life away from the depression

of the streets

away from the hollow eyes

that followed me as

I rushed to and from

Home.

I know you, woman.

I know your pain

And I know your

dreams

And although,

we have crossed paths

times too numerous

to count,

we are sisters,

we are friends,

we are one

dreaming of a brighter day.