Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?

“Can you spare me some change, brother?”

The parched and thirsty
still walk the soulless avenues
and the alleys of want and hunger.

Empty and barren
they course through streets
of need and despair.

“Change will come,”
said the promise of
Freedom and Democracy
and of Capitalism with a Conscience.
“Change will come in time.”

Yes, change comes sometimes,
when I’m scratching through pockets
for some change.