Homeless

Dirty pants and cheeks with days old stubble
has the man who sits near the entrance to the department store where
........................I am to get shiny new shoes.
.............Momma says sharply, “Don’t look him in the eye.”

I wonder then what would happen to me
if Momma let me sit there on the cold sidewalk.
........................If I sit next to the man
.............with the stained shirt and black teeth

will all the people wearing shiny shoes
turn away and not look me in the eye?
........................I wonder too if Momma would
.............just walk on by if I sat there

near the entrance to the department store,
a girl with no shiny shoes. Would she look in the eye
........................a girl who was not nearly as perfect outside or in
.............as a momma wanted her
..................................................to be?