Cups

a homeless man walks into a coffee shop

he has been there before

the last time, he asked for a free cup of coffee

he walked out with a half cup

and seven pounds of corned beef

the coffee barely made it out the door

the beef, however, had a much better run

but still fell far short

of it's expiration date

which was in four years.

in his pocket, he holds a 20$ Canadian bill

he is staking a lot

on the hope

that the bank will assume that

Canada is similar enough to America

and will give him a fair price for it.

he sees some coloring books on a shelf

and asks if he can have them

because he knows some children that will

appreciate them

they are only half colored in

and not even he knows if he is telling the truth.

he eyeballs the paper he holds with

some queen on it

he asks again

for a cup of coffee...