Many things have I known

Many Things Have I Known

Many things have I known
in this my life
Cocktails and feasts,
the powerful scent
or meat roasting on coal
rich and delicious
and plentiful free flowing wine
But I have hungered and thirsted
When the sun went west to rest

I have known the hard smell
and slippery touch
of fresh bank notes, have changed hands
with big bellied shiny faced men who change
country and cards and life for money
Yet penniless have I become again
without a beggar’s ten cent coin
for a crust of bread


I have known the comfort
of London look taxi cabs
Cruised through neon lit cities
in the thick of night
I have slept deeply
in the six inch foams of opulence
In heated rooms
halfway up the sky
Yet too have I trekked many miles
for lack of simple fare
worn my feet
on dusty endless sidewalks
And returned, humbled,
to the sack that's my home.

otienoamisi