Side Walk Sniffer

Sometimes I call myself a side walk sniffer,

I don’t find it demeaning in any way.

You see growing up in small town Bristol

Taught  me to keep things simple.

To enjoy nature, friends, laughter

Freedom.

I use to get so excited to sneak 25 cents from Mom’s purse

When she was sound asleep from working the night

Shift at the restaurant.

Knowing she had tip money in her purse and she was too tired

to say No.

Off I would go to Gaunces store to enjoy and

savor a delicious Fudgesicle.

I still buy them today

and still enjoy them the same.

You see we didn’t have much so little things were

Important.

T’is the same for me today, because I choose to live the same.

I like it- though I have privileges and freedoms

I did not have then, I do not take them for granted

And I enjoy them from the perspective of a side walk sniffer

Knowing at any moment it could all disappear

And I would be ok to return to

to my roots

Because I have never left them!

As I moved through my life I was never in a power position

So I relied on my street smarts to guide the Way.

Working from underneath as opposed to above.

I now know that is what saved me,

Because I was running a different script from those who wished

to suppress me.

So in the end, being a Side Walk sniffer served me Well.

             Lori Ellis~McKinney (2014)