Earlier this week as I drove along through the shopping plaza parking lot on my way to work I passed a woman and a little girl holding a cardboard sign. I was almost past them when I glimpsed them and I couldn’t see what their sign said. It’s unusual to see such a sight in the rather upscale area where I live and work, so after I parked I hiked across the parking lot to find out why they were there.
They were gone!
In the less than a minute it took me to park and start walking back in their direction they had vanished. I couldn’t remember exactly where I had seen them. I glanced at the parked cars and in all directions, but they were gone. When I couldn’t find anyone else who had seen them, I began to wonder if I’d imagined them.
Later in the week when I got together with my song-writing partner, we decided to work on a happy song. Our session didn’t go exactly as we planned and we were both frustrated with our inability to write “happy.” I wonder if maybe we’ve seen too much of life.
I came home and wrote the start of lyrics to a decidedly less than happy song or maybe it’s just a poem, but so far it goes like this:
Homeless Girl Song (A Work in Progess)
I wish I could just disappear
I hope no one I know sees me here
But mommy says this is the only way we’ll eat
And tonight we’ll need a place to sleep
I stand by her side and hold the sign
She keeps telling me everything will be fine
I don’t believe her she’s said that before
Good thing for her I’m not keeping score
A man in a truck comes over to talk
He and my mom go for a short walk
He says something to her then gestures at me
She shakes her head sadly and then the man leaves
***
Visit me at www.barbmeyers.com
Follow me on Twitter @barbmeyers or @ajtillock or both
Homeless Girl
They were gone!
In the less than a minute it took me to park and start walking back in their direction they had vanished. I couldn’t remember exactly where I had seen them. I glanced at the parked cars and in all directions, but they were gone. When I couldn’t find anyone else who had seen them, I began to wonder if I’d imagined them.
Later in the week when I got together with my song-writing partner, we decided to work on a happy song. Our session didn’t go exactly as we planned and we were both frustrated with our inability to write “happy.” I wonder if maybe we’ve seen too much of life.
I came home and wrote the start of lyrics to a decidedly less than happy song or maybe it’s just a poem, but so far it goes like this:
Homeless Girl Song (A Work in Progess)
I wish I could just disappear
I hope no one I know sees me here
But mommy says this is the only way we’ll eat
And tonight we’ll need a place to sleep
I stand by her side and hold the sign
She keeps telling me everything will be fine
I don’t believe her she’s said that before
Good thing for her I’m not keeping score
A man in a truck comes over to talk
He and my mom go for a short walk
He says something to her then gestures at me
She shakes her head sadly and then the man leaves
***
Visit me at www.barbmeyers.com
Follow me on Twitter @barbmeyers or @ajtillock or both