Tucked in the alcove

Down on Center Street

The cardboard covers

Those cold hands and feet

Empty inward eyes

Cold, white and dry

Makin’ assumptions

As snowflakes fly by

He used to be

A photographer

With a degree

In romance literature

It’s crooked young path

Lost in history

51 years old

And there’s no mystery

He is starting to forget

Who he used to be

It’s all numb now

And the pain come easy

He used to play

The piano

His wife would sing

Sing soprano

But now the show is over

And the curtains down

And there’s no spotlight comin’

To that sacred sidewalk found

The applause is mute

And the only encore

Is getting a few thrown quarters

That he didn’t ask for

Tommy J. Gallo

Used to care a lot

Then Cathy got the cancer

After they’d tied the knot

Four years of medical bills

And a economic crash

Rent through the roof

And a no work backlash

She left him

On a full moon night

In a sterile room

With fluorescent light

But now the show is over

And the curtains down

And there’s no spotlight comin’

To that sacred sidewalk found

The applause is mute

And the only encore

Is getting a few thrown quarters

That he didn’t ask for

Evicted and alone

Livin’ out of his car

Cameras got stolen

And he didn’t make it far

A weary old way

To the west coast

Down and broken

Missing Cathy the most

Remembering

The hot summer air

The fireflies

And her long black hair

And then he said

Where, where do I sleep

What do I eat

Where do I go

What, what do I keep

Who do I meet

In this shit-show

Oh I, I am cold.

I am alone

I am Tommy J Gallo

But now the show is over

And the curtains down

And there’s no spotlight comin’

To the sacred sidewalk found

The applause is mute

And the only encore

Is taking his last breath

In late December