a promise is up there
I know
   star bright
in bitter chill winter
   charity
remove him from cold

cardboard wears thin
and bay rum
   lingers
if not giving warmth
perhaps comfort?

a give-away breath
forcing clucking tongues
to scoff this waif-like image

lost
amidst madding shopping frenzy
   tossed
into the ocean
to hit the rocks of unforgiving glares
   grizzled fingers nuzzle knees
glassy, lost eyes
   long since abandoned
even simplest of comforts

existing
on just a candle of hope
   flickering dimly
on this
   Christmas Eve