Remainders

This evening, coming home after a long day of work and a couple glasses of Pinot Noir, I saw the saddest thing I've noticed in a while. It was a sign, written on discarded cardboard, that said "Help. Trying to get out of the cold". There was some stuff on the opposite side I couldn't read. It had been tossed into the tracks for the uptown CE train at West 4th St. Occasionally, I take a census of the refuse lying in and around the track. Most often, it's the cast-offs of everyday life...pens, batteries, plastic forks, soda bottles, etc. But this sign, someone's best attempt at making their life bearable for a short time, lying forlornly in the subway gutter, made me wish that the world was a little kinder sometimes.