I saw a man in the street
Bird nest hair, half clothed
Dirty, bare of feet.

Knelt upon a puddle
Green, murky with gnats
In go his hand
To quench his thirst.
It’s not the last the time he will be doing this
Neither is it his first.

He smiles and then laughs
At jokes only he can understand
He listens, joins in
Conversations only he can hear
With friends only he can see.

It was almost upon me
To look upon him with pity
Then I took another look
A look with my heart at this city
Reject; invisible even to those who see.

There is light in his eyes
A genuineness,
So he is a ‘madman’ in our view
But there is integrity in his stance
infectious is his happiness!

He is unanxious about inflation
Unbothered by BBI
Unconcerned about corona
Undisturbed by debt
Unencumbered by enemies

He wanders from pavement to side street
Laugh-mock him if you want
He bends to pick a shiny thing
Discovers what’s at his feet
He marvels at this and at that
Little pleasures
You and me have forgot.

Tired, he sleeps wherever he falls
Step on him spit on him
He is himself without walls.
Unguarded unafraid
Responds to his spirit’s calls.

So who is mad I wonder?
He who is unabashedly human
Unworried, raw
Or you and I
Running away from
Being so?

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.