Street
Girl
by Faith Mackay
Dirty hands reaching for me as she holds out her hat,
Can you spare a dollar for some food miss?
Vacant, dark eyes looking up, empty.
Shrouded in drugs and loss.
Hair in tangles and knots.
Old dirty jeans.
Alone.
Lost.
Girl.
Mommy
Why mommy?
Why what honey?
Why does she sit in the rain?
Because she is a street girl honey.
Why doesn’t she just go home?
I don’t know why honey.
Why not mommy?
Mommy
Found.
Belonging.
New bell-bottom jeans.
Hair in ponytails and tassels.
Shrouded in love and tenderness.
Bright, dark eyes looking up, questioning.
Can I have a dollar for food for the street girl?
Clean hands grasping mine as she puts the dollar in the hat.
Cold rain falling, girl looking back at girl, hovering in dark doorway.
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