Raggedy Rhymster Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

Street lamps wink out,
dark turns to dawn's gloom-
a bearded vagrant awakens
from dreams of doom.
He rises to wander from the dump
to bum a fiver off a guy at the pump
at Mike's gas station as he
heads out to quench his thirst.

He has declined from the man he was;
ambition and desire no longer gnaw.
In bars on Milwaukee he's renowned
as a poet whose lines astound
and delight clientele from the hood.
They applaud the guy who would
prefer another drink to praise!