Sister?

Sister

The woman sat on the sidewalk. Two people walked past her. The man asked: Do you have a dollar for us, sister? The woman standing next to him said nothing. She looked down at the sidewalk. The first woman opening her mouth wide  said: No, I have no money. She wanted to tell the man: What do mean asking me for money? I am sitting here. I am panhandler. You should be ashamed of yourself. The man asked: Are you ok? The older woman nodded her head. After they left to cross the street she shook her head. I can’t believe that life on the street can be this crazy.

 

 

Fall

He was there, putting garbage in large black bags. The woman stopped to look at the old and gritty-looking building; the next moment she was down on the pavement. Her face hurt. Oh, my! She cried. She couldn’t stay down. First her left leg, then her right. She didn’t know how she made it up again. The man continued putting garbage in the bags. Yes, he is playing dumb. You know that you could have helped me, she told him. You are a piece of a trash. He did not look at her. What’s the use, she thought before telling him: I hope that something like this happens to  your wife or daughter and that no one helps them. Totally unacceptable.

The Mess

Mess

I hate disarray. I hate ugliness. I love tidiness and beauty. I hate lack of space for prize possessions. I live with disarray, ugliness and there is no space for anything that I want and need and want to keep. I hate putting away things and not see them anymore. I want them in front of me. I want to touch and feel them if they remind me of long gone dear ones. I miss me. I miss the person that I was. I don’t like the person that I am—scrounging for this, scrounging for that. I scrounge for a few minutes of peace and quiet. I remember my better days only too well. There is no pretending they never existed. There is no pretending I wouldn’t want them back if I could have them.

 

 

The Wind

The Wind

The wind blew the raggedy black plastic cape. The force of the wind reminded her of anger, of frustration. The wind slapped her face hard. Her lips stiffened and her eyes closed. She didn’t to see this. She didn’t want to be on the sidewalk. Another day—it was another day of the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Eyes, Part 2

The Eyes, Part 2

The eyes—they are wide open. The eyes watch the person and the person’s back.  The TV is on and the person laughs at something.  The back and the arms move. The eyes belonging to the body with whiskers and 4 legs grow wider. They look from the person to the window and from the window to the door. The animal’s body tenses up and it moves to the back of the bed.  The cat’s ears are now stuck to the head. A woman on the bed stretches out her arms. She touches the cat’s head. “I understand, baby. I know how you feel. Nothing will happen. Nothing can happen because I am with you.”  The animal looks at her; the body relaxes. The eyes keep watching the person.

The Eyes

His ears were almost glued to the back of his head. His eyes looked at the person across the room; they were fully aware. The animal’s body was stiff to the touch. Was the person going to move? What was the person going to do? When was the person going to do it, whatever it was? He made himself smaller. The person had his back turned to him. The animal turned his head towards his family member. “It’s fine. It’s perfectly fine,” the family member told him. “I will protect you. You can count on that.” The animal’s body relaxed a bit, but not much. The family member sighed. Crying wouldn’t do anything now. She closed her eyes. “Stay with me.”

The Hands

The Hands

There wasn’t much left of them. The man clutched a nearly empty can of Cobra beer with the palm of his hand. The fingers, except for the thumbs, had been cut off. He looked up at the people entering the subway car. Don’t get near me. I don’t like you, he’d say. Some of the passengers backed off; others laughed silently and turned away. He looked down at his pants. The smell of urine enveloped the car. From a bag, he took out a pair of pants and placed it on his lap. He laughed, muttering something no one could understand.  The train came to a stop. People went out to another car.