A man walking down a street sees a woman begging with a baby, and instead of reaching for his wallet, he starts to question himself. How much is enough? What if someone worse off is around the corner? The poem is made almost entirely of these questions, and it shows a mind that talks itself out of acting.
The questions start out practical, then drift into something uglier. The speaker wonders whether he would feel the same if the beggar were old, smelly, deformed, or wearing a burqa. He even imagines the baby growing into a terrorist. These thoughts expose prejudices he seems half-ashamed of, yet he voices them anyway. Then the poem shifts: what if she asked for his love, and he had none to give? The money problem turns into a question about whether he can give anything of himself.
The mood is anxious, awkward, and a little darkly comic. The short, flat lines make his panic feel real, and the closing "What if it's infinite?" suggests need that can never be fully met.