Blind Glory

A man sleeps on the sidewalk
beneath the window
of Sleep Country
twenty empty mattresses
illuminated above his head
behind tempered glass

drunks who smell
like rotting roses
slouch barefoot
in front of Shoe Outlet

garbage picked over by crows
and desperate men
piss and broken glass
walk don’t walk
mottled flesh and fancy cars
sweat and exhaust
chewing gum ground into coloured
circles on the pavement

this is how we live together
and share only one blanket

and still the sun rises
proclaiming blind glory. — Michelle Barker, First Published in Room, 2006