My Loneliness Poem by Leonard Dabydeen

I sit on the corner of Bay & Yonge
my double-layered cardboard stool
squeaking in annoyance at my posture
and my tattered winter coat
refuses to complain of the cold
with its inner lining shredded
by free-range mice
my checkered scarf wrapped
around my neck
like Dada in Dance India Dance
and I don’t know what my hat
looks like in its grey-haired nest
yet feels as if it were an apple
on my uncombed crown
and my right hand akimbo
holding an empty bowl
preying on each passer-by
I remain still
quiet as the night
nothing happens unless
you make a move yourself
my tongue darts up my palate
as the air becomes tickled
with the scent of Chinese food
my empty stomach reminds me
to keep a tab on my hunger
with my sluggish eyes brooding
and saving a thought for
quake-victims in Haiti
then I plunge deep into my mind
to ravage my loneliness
and feast at every morsel of it
hoping tomorrow will start a new day.