Contributor: Richard Schnap

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She used to sit near the corner library
With her plastic bags of thrift store clothes
Wrapped in a coat a size too big
Whose color had faded a long time ago

And then I would see her in the early morning
Buying a loaf of bread at the supermarket
Which she’d scatter in pieces along the sidewalk
As if it was her mission to feed the birds

And when night came down she’d disappear
To find some shelter away from the cold
Leaving a trail of uneaten crumbs
The only sign she’d been there at all

But then one day I passed by and saw
Her place had been taken by a young girl
Sitting on the ground with a cup of coins
Wrapped in a coat a size too big


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Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas in a variety of print and online publications.