still love in this country

We were making out on the street, my back against a stucco liquor store wall, when that homeless man came by saying, “Someone take a picture."

And startled, you turned your head to see that ragged old man passing behind you, hunched over.

"Someone take a picture!" he insisted, smiling.

You looked back at me with those wide what the fuck?! eyes, and in that corner of the sidewalk, where the streetlights couldn't reach, he said it again: "Take a picture! Someone take a picture! There's still LOVE in this country!"

I remember your arms tightening around my back, laughter corralled, just cracking the ice on your face. You couldn't see that old homeless man staring at us with all that weathered grace, all that dusty humility, as he said, "Thank you," and dragged himself along down the sidewalk.

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