This homeless man in front of me sits in a coffee shop, twitching, but he’s fully asleep. He’s dreaming, but his hands and feet never stop moving. As he drifts into deeper sleep, his head tries to find a comfortable resting spot, but the need to appear awake to avoid being asked to leave signals his body to look alive.

His sleepy eyes pop open and survey the landscape, but he’s fighting the exhaustion of being on streets where not remaining alert means the little he may have can be taken from him. Through the narrowing lids, I can see his eyes rolling as they lose focus and work hard at bringing this man to rest, but he’s fighting it.

He, like so many others who pass through here while I sit comfortably writing after a great night of sleep, sipping a coffee, experiencing the luxury of free time that allows me to interpret those around me instead of just trying to have a few moments of shelter, rest, and use of toilet facilities.

At what point he became aware of my attention to him is of no importance as in his situation, he is used to and aware of being observed, and maybe in his world, that means he would soon need to move on. That’s just what he did.