The Homeless Crisis (swear word!)

[PondWater]

Sage, shaman, wise man, wizard,
the man walks down the centuries
burdened by layers of cloth, layers of memory,
layers of grime and shit and earth,
all billowing out around him
like the people around him,
billowing out to avoid his stench,
his touch, his gaze. And what stories
are there behind his outstretched hand
and his downcast eyes and his plea
for the quarters in your pocket?
He keeps his stories. Keeps them hidden,
stowed away in the same place
that God hides his secrets, his loose socks,
his blueprints and his grand designs,
which are perhaps not so complicated
as we would like to think.

Hannah, I think the first line is fine as is. It introduces this mysterious character and hints at the whole god element. I like the theme it creates in me. Is it that god is like a homeless man, at the mercy of life, at the whim of somethings morals, but not without some desires, or is the homeless man a god, an all powerful force within in his own choices...? 
Maybe there is a freedom in simplicity....