I sat alone in the cold, sitting and waiting,
While I held out my empty hand as I watched the daylight fading.
How I longed to go home to a house filled with warmth!
But I reminded myself that my home was neither house nor had a hearth
To lie down beside and be filled with heat;
In my present state, that is a place I long to meet.

I looked at my city as the last rays of sun escaped;
I looked at the shadows and the buildings over which shadows draped.
I glanced at the moon as it rose into the sky;
I emptily stared at the cars passing me by.
I began walking to the place where I set my head to rest;
Could it even be called my home? I told myself it could, although it is not to me this question is addressed.

I halted my journey as I spied a young child staring at me;
She looked me all over and looked as though she could weep.
She finally tugged at her mother’s sleeve,
And after watching whispered words, a hope of mine I began to believe.
The mother reached for her purse and to her daughter she gave
A few small pieces of paper that could my ruin save.
As I watched with shock, the girl turned around and said
“These are for you...” and with that she turned and fled.

The mother-daughter pair walked away as I stared in disbelief;
Tears began to brim as they did so, but they were not out of grief.
They were just pieces of paper I now held in my hand,
But I felt as though my eyes had been cleared of plentiful sand.
The heavens sang above me as I started to walk home once again;
My face was shining with my happiness but then
I looked around another time and with my eyes I saw
Those who looked worse off than me, and I realized that I didn’t need the money at all.

As I stared at where my newfound happiness had at one time resided,
I realized it was not with these small papers in which my future could confide.
I looked at those who had only garbage with which to make their bed,
And turning to look at them, I somewhat reluctantly said,
“I don’t need this money. Could you take it for me instead?”

Their eyes shining bright with hope anew,
I noticed I felt the same way they did too.
I held out the bills, and with hands shaking and blue,
They accepted my gift gratefully, and tucked it into an old and cracked shoe.

As they smiled at me, I began my journey across the city‘s floor,
But I realized that today, my journey included something more.
It included friendship, and giving what one could,
And letting go of what one knows they should.

Many try to pay for a happy soul,
But to achieve contentment, Life has asked for a greater toll.
Life wants us to know and understand
That the greatest gifts of all can be given with helping hand.