Two Views

They view the world as two,
One in which they live daily,
Secure, sound, understandable.
One in which they watch on tv
violent, volatile, confused.

My world is one.
I vanish before them -
Their eyes see through me, but
I watch them from a safe distance.

They sit inside, warm, welcomed.
A purple violet in a glass vase,
Water and wine in goblets,
A stenciled grape vine on the wall frames them,
A vision of two romantics like a scene from a painting.

I stand outside, cold, shunned.
A blackened rose in a paper wrap,
Hands and feet in rags,
A line of rooftops tower above and beyond me,
An earthen-worn scoundrel, I am a Dicken's like pauper.

Vast is the land I travel.
Varied are the people I see.
I am the world they watch on tv,
In person, though, I vanish before them -
Their eyes see through me,

I am the vagrant.