Tonight I was driving home from the bar and I passed a homeless girl and her dog near the highway and the girl looked at me and smiled

I got all the way home and turned around and headed back in her direction

And when I got there I was going to say “I don’t have much money, but is there anything I can do for you? I don’t know, I want to help you”

She was gone by the time I reached 7th Street . . . there was an orange bucket at the spot where she was sitting and a few empty bags

It seemed insane to check the surrounding streets so I didn’t

I sped onto 24 and headed toward West Oakland, toward home, where I knew exactly what awaited me

And what awaited me was the same old weird thing