Soul Man

A figure crouched in

Human misery

Is broken by the world

That he tried so hard

To nurture.

Straining muscles and

Rivulets of sweat

Built the city that he

Loved.

He was a soul man,

Singing hymns as he worked.

His own raw hands helped

Stack the steel and brick and glass,

His own aching feet paced the

Factory floor

That he trusted with his

Family's hunger and need for money.

His own heart beat

In the engine of every car,

In the wall of every building,

In the lanes of every road.

He was a soul man,

Thinking of the children.

And now this city that

He cared for like an infant

Has grown up and rebelled,

Tossing him from the factory he worked,

To the road he paved,

And finally to the homeless shelter

That he helped to build.

He was a soul man,

Praying for his family.

He is ashamed, thinking

That he must have done

Wrong, failed to teach a crucial lesson,

Not knowing that the city he cared for

Has simply turned its back

On the soul man's human misery.