The money in his clean hands
Is dirty,
And judging by his weak arms
And legs
He has never tried a day in
His life

And the girl next to him is leaving
Very soon
Clouded glances around before
The exchange
And now she leaves until the
Next time
She needs a fix, a weeks worth
Of cash
To swirl down and around the
Hazardous streets
Never to be spent to buy her little
Baby boy
The formula he needs to grow big
And strong
And survive the alleys around the
Freezing apartment
She keeps warm by burning all the
Eviction notices
Posted daily by tack on the paint of
The door
But one day mom forgot to start
A fire
And warm up lent formula from a
Lucky woman
That lived down the hall, one that
Walked down
That same dark hallway
At seven
That morning, stopping by
To see
If mom needed anything saw her on
The floor
Out, she thought, but no pulse, cold
As winter
Attempts CPR and yells for help
It arrives
Not too late, says the paramedic, he
Looks around
And sees a small lump of blanket in
The corner
He moves closer to investigate and
Finds baby
Blue and cold, abandoned & nothing
To wear
Little hand wrapped around a single
Dollar bill
And with one last breath baby
Let go,
The dollar falling slowly from
His grasp

The money in his cold dirty hands
Is clean
And judging by his weak arms
And legs
He was never given a fair chance
At life.