Bag Lady

There  is  nothing  that  can  contain  me,  that is  what  i tell  myself  every day,  there is  nothing  that can  contain  me.  Then  I  see  you and  I Realize  how  foolish  I  am.  Contained  in this body  of  mud,  i  imagined  myself  to  be  better  than  you,  than  us  all. Now  I  realize  how  small I  really  am,  I am  crying,  this  is not  about  me,  I am  no  more  important  than  the  man  I  see  pissing in  the park  everyday  after  work,  homeless,  workless,  wordless,  he has a story  to  tell  just  like  I  do,  a lesson  to learn  just  like  I do.  I see you  and  I  wonder  how I  ever  managed  to  go  on  without  observing  you,  placing  your  empty  bottles  in  that plastic  bag,  praying  for  something  more,  greater.  I  spent  my days  working  to  get  ahead  and  now  I  have  it  all,  Everything  that I every  wanted,  and still  I  find  myself  unhappy, until  I saw  you,  beautiful  you,  lonely  you,  silent  you,  gathering the  garbage  that I  ignore.  A  treasure  to  you,  a  memory  for  me,  one  that refuses  to  fade  with  time.  Now  I  imagine  what it  is  you  are doing  with  your  time.  Now  my time  is just  a  past  time  waiting  for  that  glimpse  into  your  life,  too make  me  feel  alive,  I  am lost  and  when  I  see the  hopelessness  of  your  loss I  feel  complete.  I  can  never even  dare  to  talk  to  you,  so  far  from  me  are you,  taken  from  my  fantasy  a  dream  unspoken,  a  life  unloved,  and   here  I stand, making  images  to  sell  s****y  burgers  to  a population  that  ignores   you.  Convincing the world  that  they  don't need  you,  that I  don't  need you.  That  there  is  only  a piece  of  paper  that  divides  the common  man  from  that  child  of  unequaled  pleasure,  and  here  I  realized,  it  wasn't  the same  as   happiness.  And  now  I  feel  like I  have  something  to  say,  but  its  too  late,  as I  witness  your starving  body  on  the  streets  below,  and  I  know, I  could  have  spoken  up  before.

Reviews

[alanwgraham]

I enjoyed this although i find it a bit enigmatic. I am not too good at interpreting although i know from my own writing that that which i think is obvious is not always clear to others. I'm not too clear how these two bits connect - 'sell s****y burgers to a population that ignores you. Convincing the world that they don't need you,' I do like the image of the observer looking at the life of the bag lady.
Well done,
Alan
You might like to read my story 'Any change pal' - a take on the homeless. Thanks!

[sayohBeloved]

Thanks for the review, yes this piece was a spur of the moment that I jostled down in 5 minutes not really thinking about exactly how it fit together I can definitely see how my topic might not have shown through, to me it is about distraction, he doesn't sell burgers to a population he is 'making images to sell burgers', He is in advertisement, his job is to distract people from the necessities of life with images of 'luxuries' in a sense, to keep people from confronting what they don't like about themselves and the world around them, I guess burgers wasn't the best choice for that perhaps expensive clothing, and while his job is able to afford him plenty of pleasure happiness eludes him, and all of the sudden he finds himself infatuated with this women whose life is spent finding worth in others trash, she is worlds away from him her life being so different, and that fascinates him, I guess the irony is she is just another distraction in the end. Our ability ignore the terrible things that happen in this world is both a blessing and a curse but one I find very interesting, and I think distraction plays a large role in that than I again perhaps I put too much in that, it was a passing thought. thank you again for the feedback I really am trying to develop my writing so any criticism is much appreciated, I will check out your stories for sure.

[alanwgraham]

Thanks for your very full reply. That helps a lot. Sometimes it is good that the reader has to do a bit of work. When you are using metaphor it can always be open to interpretation. Sometimes I like my stories to be crystal clear if i think the message to be important but sometimes its equally important for the reader to take their own interpretation!
Thanks again!
Alan