The whole town talked ’bout ’em…these two…with their idealistic ways…men in bars said he was a dreamer and she was just followin’ along…women at church said she was no good for him…said she’d lead him down a dangerous path…you’d see ’em over at the town square smokin’ and jokin’ with the rest of the vagabonds…crazy Gypsies…stayed out all hours of the night…til the cops would come and tell ‘ em to get movin’ on…it became a ritual…

And so they’d go with their sleepin’ bags under the overpass and curl up in each other’s arms…volunteers from shelters and churches would keep an eye on ’em…bring soup on cold nights…bologna sandwiches in the Summer with small bags of potato chips and toothpaste with toothbrushes…the couple stored their gifts in a book bag along with a copy of the holy Bible…he’d read to her on cool evenin’s down by the river…tellin’ her ’bout gettin’ baptized in the muddy water when he was just a kid…she’d smile and rest her brunette hair on his skinny shoulder…

They had a good life at one time…he’d work at the grocery store to pay rent and take her out on Saturday nights…she washed dogs for a buck or two at the Petco…come home at night covered in hair…smellin’ too…he didn’t care…they’d fix tv dinners and watch episodes of Cops on the local yokel station…her green eyes would close…fallin’ asleep right there on the couch in a spoon position…he’d grab a blanket and cover ’em with it…

But…they’d both become down on life after awhile…tried to have kids and it didn’t work…money became tighter and tighter ‘tween ’em with bills always bein’ tossed to the side and rent never gettin’ paid on time…months would go by without a dime to the landlord…’ventually got kicked out…there was never enough…

So…they became despondent…not carin’ anymore ’bout what people thought…quit their jobs…decided to just be homeless and sell plasma every once in awhile when they needed a little dough…needles stuck in arms withdrawin’ precious fluids…they’d turn their eyes away…couldn’t watch…

They never grew tired of each other…never argued…never fought…they were in it together…this was the life they’d chosen…these two people…these two people…