Street Peddler by B. Elizabeth Beck

photographer unknown

Street Peddler
you say it’s a living, we’ve all gotta eat  –Robert Hunter

he scrawls abstract
portraits of Hemingway
reminiscent of Picasso
as we talk about Bukowski,  
I gaze at his sidewalk exhibit,
watercolour landscapes one side,
portraits on the other –

each cubist rendition unique
enough to catch my attention
a moment more, lingering long
enough for him to grace me
with a poem of his own about
a girl from Sweden who left lipstick
smudges behind in Key West
where he drinks vodka in her
memory, writing poetry in her wake

B. Elizabeth Beck

This poem is from B. Elizabeth Beck's manuscript, Painted Daydreams. The writer, artist and teacher is the author of two poetry books, and founder of central Kentucky's Teen Howl Poetry Series. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.