David Colodney
Sidewalks
The wine in Lisbon flows like technicolor waterfalls,
reds and whites for some, but we all pound
pavements for different reasons. Obvious tourists
jostle alongside workaday locals. Falling in,
a homeless man, paper cup extended to hope.
He staggers on crutches in front of this Avenida bar
pleading for coins, and the manager chases
him away. My bartender reappears, refills
my glass mumbling "bad for business" in broken
English. If I had any real conscience
or any balls at all, I'd find this man, invite him for a drink,
show off my new friend to the posh
people of this place, not that I do. I anesthetize
myself with another, and another, and walk
back to a four-star hotel over these sidewalks,
a cold and hard bed for him tonight.
Bio
David Colodney realized at an early age that he had no athletic ability whatsoever, so he decided to focus his attention on writing about sports instead, covering everything from major league baseball to high school flag football for The Miami Herald and The Tampa Tribune. He holds an MFA from Converse College, where he served as poetry editor of South85, the literary journal of the Converse MFA program, and also an MA from Nova Southeastern University. His poetry has appeared or will appear in St. Petersburg Review, South Carolina Review, California Quarterly, and Shot Glass Journal, among others. David was recently named a finalist in the 2017 DISQUIET Prize for Poetry. He lives in Boynton Beach, Florida with his wife, three sons, and golden retriever.