HEY LADY --
BY MANNY

Hey, Lady!
Do you see?
(See what?
she never says,
her ears as deaf
as her eyes blind.)
See me.
(Lady says nothing,
clutches her purse,
giving me a silent stare,
a peculiar glare
and suddenly,
I am a threat)
Do you see?
(Lady scurries away
Lady passes by
a young girl
in ragged dress --
a potential threat
to her precious Well-Being --
in the street.
She does not see me.
She does not see.
Not the first to
cross my path.
I've seen too many:
People people people people,
black white red and yellow,
grown-up throngs
pass me -- the tranparent threat --
each day without their eyes.
I think maybe
they left them
with their Childhood
I think maybe
they miss their Innocence,
miss their Trust,
miss their Sympathy,
or perhaps they're afraid of it,
as they fear me.
And now it's too late.
Now they'll never see.)
Good-bye, Lady.