Stock characters:
1) man with gangrenous wound.

He received the crushing news with a resignation born of decades of unrealized hopes.

Courage when you have none
Endurance when you have none
Patience when you have none
Kindness when you have none

With a year of hard work my project has grown from grandiose fantasy to lackluster reality.

This was the day he realized everything was a bonus.

Walking around at the end of winter sighting fellow orphans—diminished piles of snow and dog shit—and mouthing a silent greeting. Hello friend, somehow we made it through.

An unfortunate sequence of poor decisions had brought him here, to this chair, in the dark, unable to feel his feet.

the austere beauty of winter
the power of forgiveness
the market is not the economy
nina simone
the male or female gaze
blah blah etc etc

By April, life has killed you.

In compensation for his collapsing dignity and self respect he found himself engaged in escalating acts of grandiose generosity. 

Shitting on a tablecloth, expecting it to sort itself into a menu and an eight course meal.

Passing Rockland Psych Center, saw dead dog on side of road.
Wept for next 38 miles.
Just when you think there’s nothing left, there it is again.

Fragments, the only things that hold together.