give till it hurts

you gave at
the office, you
dropped a buck
into the hat
of the guy on
the corner,
with a red nose
and a bottle
of rum tucked
inside his pea coat.
another ten bucks
to the boy
scout troup
who washed your
car, and then
the purple heart
came and took
away a bag of
clothes, and
the church knocked
on your door
to help the
lost souls in
el salvador, and
pbs put a hand
or two into
the trough to
take a few
dollars to keep
the show on,
and the president
needs some dough
to run for
office one more
time, and green
peace has a whale
standed on a
beach that they
need your help
with, and there's
still oil lapping
on the shore
in the gulf,
firemen are walking
the street with
upside down boots
dipping them into
your car window.
there's a cop
on the phone who
needs money
for something or
other, but you
never find out
what because you've
hung up the phone.
sometimes you need
your own tin can.