Spare a Dollar, Friend?
None too rich & none too proud,
I’ll take what you give me,
a dollar, a handshake, a shroud.
If it seems to you I’m bent & bowed,
you know me so well. Please forgive me,
hoping for a dollar, asking aloud.
I stand here, friend, waiting, cowed,
while you decide how to shiv me,
none too rich & none too proud.
I hate doing this, for crying out loud.
But I know you’ll outlive me,
oh so rich & oh so proud.
To you I’m just a face in the crowd.
Never once will you relive me,
none too rich & none too proud,
a dollar, a handshake, a shroud.
27 thoughts on "Spare a Dollar, Friend?"
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The extra line of the last stanza, repeated from the first, is punch in the conscience. Great poem and call to compassion, Kevin.
Thanks Bud! I loved your poem today also.
Oh ! Unbroken……..and the idea to use villanelle with its repetitive nature ….Yes !!!!!!!
Form ! Content ! Social commentary ! Empathy !
The works.
Strength of craft influenced by 3 weeks of diving in the well…
Absolute masterwork !
Submit this !!!
Thanks Coleman! I did think the repetition echoed what it might be like to depend on panhandling. All that asking, over and over…
Brilliant indeed!
A wonderful example of form, and the repeated lines have a great heft and weight to them. I love “a dollar, a handshake, a shroud…”
Thanks Shaun! The first stanza came to me in a dream and it just seemed like the start of a villanelle.
This form works so well here, and your repeated rhyming words are so well chosen. Great poem, Kevin!
Thanks Nancy!
This is exquisite! The content and form match perfectly. Such a beautiful piece, Kevin.
❤️
I like the question mark in the title. This poem is a perfect use of poetry as social commentary. Thanks for writing it.
❤️
Another big fan of the choices you made, Kevin: form and content. The repetitions really get across what you intended, the act of asking again and again, and again.
Thanks Bill. Sometimes these old forms walk the walk, don’t they?
They really do!
The villanelle worked so well with your content and message of this poem!
Thanks Linda!
Well done! Love the rhythm and meaning:
“a dollar, a handshake, a shroud.”
Thanks Pam! Dark but clear eyed, I hope.
Yep!
I love the folding repetitons, and you did this with rhyme — no easy task. The repetition of “me,” so effectve.
This topic and the way you have expressed it are so timely. It brought to mind the old “Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime” song, but of course we’ve had inflation.
Thank you so very much for sharing this wonderful poem!
Thanks E.E.! I did have that song in the back of my mind.
I appreciate the initial choice to take on the persona/point of view/voice of the panhandler
Thanks Gaby. I was nervous about that.
Candidate for favorite poem of the month right here! The form, the repetition, the rhymes, the message, the musicality… A delight, Kevin.
Thanks David!