He slid behind the building;
And watched them from afar.
Apparently not much money;
He didn’t know who they were.

Strangers to the city streets;
Which was obvious anyway.
Especially to the likes of him
Looked like fairly easy prey.

The woman—only a teenage kid;
Not much in the way of clothes.
Pretty cold this time of year;
You’d think they’d at least have coats.

The man was older, but not so tough,
They kept knocking on doors which stuck.
Of one shelter after another.
He knew they’d have no luck.

Everyone knew this time of year,
The shelters are solidly packed.
These two would surely be easy pickins’
If they didn’t even know that.

It was funny he even noticed them
Looked like most of the homeless poor.
But the locket that she was clutching
Looked way to precious to just ignore.

She held it close where’re they went,
And as the day wore on,
He noticed by a sideward glance,
She was also nine months along.

On and on they trudged afoot,
Shoppers had no time to stare;
Too preoccupied with shopping lists,
Too preoccupied to care.

They never begged for money,
Though he was hoping that they’d ask;
That way, when he stole the locket,
He could also take the cash.

Nearer, now, he spied the jewel.
It seemed to radiate.
A glistening sparkle of pure gold
This, he could appreciate….

Imagining it was all they had,
Maybe an heirloom piece;
But that was their problem, after all,
And he wouldn’t lose any sleep.

At last the day was wearing thin
They’d not even stopped to eat;
The snow was falling much faster now,
They’d soon have to get off the streets.

A man was distributing sandwiches,
And pointed in his direction,
Which was the perfect mugging place:
A deserted subway station.

He could tell she was feeling poorly
Every few steps, she’d stop and sigh.
The man was helping as best that he could,
Train patrons walked hurriedly by.

Nearby, the whine of a saxophone,
Begging the traveler’s coins
Stopped playing abruptly as they came near,
And he watched as the lady lay down.

The musician offered his corner
The only place where he could live;
Bearded and dirty and smelly,
It was all he was able to give.

Another offered his heavy coat
And laid it on the cold earth;
It was only then that he realized
That the lady was giving birth.

Soon, more and more scruffy characters,
Were helping; was she ok?
He couldn’t see what was happening,
But couldn’t tear himself away.

Then one in the crowd, took off his hat,
And he suddenly heard a cry,
He pushed his way through;  a smile skimmed his face
The newborn was loudly alive!

But this was no place for a newborn,
The child was shivering cold;
No one offered  to cover the child,
They just knelt and stared in awe….

Something grabbed at the watchman’s heart,
The scarf, round his neck, he unwrapped;
He bundled the babe in the red-striped cloth,
And returned it gently onto her lap.

They he saw two mittens lying there,
And a torn box of Cheerios;
Some cups of coins, and a loaf of bread;
And some little people clothes.

They had given, everything they had,
Though they were poor and maimed;
His scarf seemed suddenly not enough,
And for his plans, he felt ashamed.

Somewhere, someone started humming,
And a carol issued forth,
Was it after all a stroke of fate
That is was December 24th?

These two people, homeless, lost,
Wondering what their future would hold,
What chance did this young child have
Of becoming anything but poor and cold?…

Suddenly the man began to weep,
And the snow quickened it’s pace;
Both continued into the night
Melting his heart with repentant grace. 

He prayed to God to help him see
How to help his fellow man.
He asked the God that he knew was there
To finally come in.

He wanted to change his devious ways,
To make restitution for all that he should.
He decided to start by helping right here
He’d check on the couple, and do what he could. 

He rose from where he had talked to his God
And looked all around here and there.
But he could find none that were there at that place
It was as if they had all disappeared.

Carefully folded, he spied a red cloth.
‘Twas his scarf, which he gently caressed.
He felt a small lump, and found pinned inside
A gold  locket, to him addressed…

"Dear Paul", it began, "we thank you so much
For the giving of your heart.
We leave a small token of our esteem
And we hope it will give you a start."

He was too amazed, to start crying again,
He stared at the locket in awe.
He could now understand the depth of their gift,
But how did they know his name, ‘Paul’?

 
by Deb Walker
( Merry Christmas ! )

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