license to ill-umine

goes the bum before the supermarket
beard thick white & long like santa's
& he looks like santa that is
if santa was in the habit
of wearing coke-bottle glasses
w/ tape in the middle
& his sleigh be a shopping cart
topped up w/ black plastic
trash bags filled with god knows what

i passed him the other day
on my way to work
my head filled w/ the anxiety of another day
about to say hi for the first time
even tho we've seen each other nearly every
weekday for years
looked at me as i approached
w/ a beseeching look
& asked

excuse me sir
i wonder if you can help
me to shut-off a song that's
on continuous loop in
my head
i can't find the button
that says stop