saw a man wizened gray hairs askew
skinny clothes leather jacket and skin
carrying his most prized possession
a carton of cigarettes
sometimes life is reduced to the basics

see a woman in the mirror
middleaged child face
circles sunken like
unwanted cargo under her eyes
clutching her chocolate bar
along with her cane
down to the basics in the
midst of depression

what are you grasping onto tonight
a shot of tequila
coke and rum
hoping for that fuzzy happy warmth
to make it all numb

maybe some pain pills you've been on them for years
a romance novel that never ends in tears
maybe you lift your hands and give it all to god
or shop till you drop to
stay out of
an empty house

we all or most have our something to make it all right
to fight back the pain in life
get from darkness to light
something to comfort something to warm
something to draw hope from