A young woman wanders

Into an alley one night.

She is alone

Afraid

Abandoned and abused,

Unsure of tomorrow’s sunrise.

She hears the footsteps approaching

But she doesn’t even respond;

She’s finished, she’s done

She’s accepted her fate.

She knows she’s nothing.

But the person who’s there

Offers her no knife, no drugs

No deal with the devil for happiness.

He (or she) offers her a hand to grad, and a smile to see

And a beating heart to listen to.

And when the woman wakes in the morning

In her own bed

The glorious sunrise blanketing her in hope,

She remembers their smell

And their whispers.

*

A little boy

Walks home

Bruised and beaten

From a scrap he’d never wanted to happen.

He’s afraid and alone

Upset at the whole unfair world

And he’s about to never go home again

But a girl with a softball hat (or maybe a boy in ratty sneakers with an ice cream cone)

Stops him,

And tells him things

He would never have believed coming from his parents

Or his teachers.

And when he sees

His bullies again

He walks on by,

Weather he’s in fifth grade or grad school,

He carries the words of stranger with him

For the rest of his life.

*

The old man

Has had a good life

But he can’t believe things can ever be good again

Now that she’s left him.

He can’t remember her face

But he can remember her smile, sometimes

And her songs too.

And now he’s alone

In a world that’s changed beyond anything he knows

A world he’s afraid of.

And he gets his gun

And he’s ready to forget it all.

But a knock at the door

And a little girl leading a puppy with no leash,

Or maybe a man with no shirt or shoes, but still clean and smiling,

And a gentle hand in his

And a kiss on the cheek

To remember it all for just a moment

And to catch a glimpse of what will come,

And he’s put everything away

And he remembers,

 Sitting on his porch,

Waving at the children walking past,

He remembers then

Every sunrise in his life.

*

In my perfect world

 There would be people

Ordinary, unassuming people,

People you’d never seen before and would never see again,

Who would be there for you in the darkest moment of your life

When the rest of the world doesn’t seem to care anymore.

These people would be there for you

With a treat, or a kind word, or a stark, revealing message

And they would remind you

That there’s always a sunrise to look forward to

And you never have to be afraid

Because you’ll always know

For the rest of your life

That you

Are not

Alone.