Corporate Branding

His cardboard placard, a sign
With an adopted motto,
Is scrawled, "Will work for food,"
piece-mill, in black, felt marker.

Disheveled in brown, wrinkled
clothes, a fitting and uniform branding
with his hand-drawn billboard.
He stands at the intersection alone

With a small bundle tied
in a blanket beside him.
Silently, somehow midst engines,
sirens, radios, street noise,
and my own benumbed mental static
he speaks to me.

Silently, I reply:

You're working for this single meal;
what life is this for you?
I can give you so little,

I withhold myself.

Pity you, pray for you,
hire you, ignore you,
feed you, befriend you,
or just betray you.
What will I do?

Think no more; the light
has changed.