downstairs
opposite the apartment
where I’m staying
i spy on a woman waiting
who is late
who has left her worried
anxious as she looks up and down the street
to her right and my left
is a man
sitting on a step
pulling hard on his cigarette
he appears bedraggled
unshaved
life it seems has not been kind to him
he has no money
no one wants him around
won’t help him anymore
he has no where to turn
but life is not through with him
he pulls hard one last time
on the cigarette squeezed between
his fingers then tosses the butt
on the ground and walks pass the
lady with home and things
wondering if she notices him
Istanbul 11/13/15
Opal Palmer Adisa 