A Man Burning Unnoticed in Harvard Square

A Man Burning Unnoticed in Harvard Square

Sidewalk Sam burns on the corner
with a borrowed cigarette unlit in his mouth.
"Brother, you smoke?" he says
through lips dark as an iron skillet,
aged and blackened by naked flames.
I stop,
Marveling
As kindling catches behind his eyes.
"Nah, I don't."

He eyes me as a mark
and sparks leap from his tongue.
...got a dollar, man? I just need
one more to finish my Ph.D...."
But his words are wasted.
I have already been captivated by his hair
erupting like breasted Robins streaking
across the bleeding edge of sunset;
The blaze filling my eyes.

I give him a dollar, crumpling it into
the basin of his cupped hands,
Where it smolders to
bone-ash amongst fired stone.
"Thanks, man," he grins, tongue
splitting like a pomegranate.
Steam rises from the crevice,
ghosting him as he darts down the subway stairs.
New England winter defies his substance.
A chilled, pristine breeze rushes to fill
the space where he has stood,
claiming aloud that he had never been there.

Indigo Moor

Posted over on Eskimo Pie