Jane

I am featuring this because of the severe winter weather happening in most of the USA I thought about this last night when the temperature dropped to 12 degrees~ 'She forgot who she was"..

 

 

 

She walks the streets
no shoes adorn her feet
bare
bruised
rough, calloused

She finds solace in an
old suitcase
it holds all her belongings
she treasures them

A book of poetry
a purple silk scarf
a comb with most of it's teeth missing
like it forgot to visit the dentist
and
a picture
little girl
blonde
blue eyes with
a smile that lights the darkest rooms

She knows of dark rooms
she lives in darkness
she had a flat but her job
well, her job let her go
so the man said, "Get Out"
she tried to get another job
"we're not hiring", they always said

After a time , a long time
she forgot her name
now,
well, now
she roams the dirty boulevard
and wonders who she is
and how she got here
she wonders who the little girl is
who's smile lights the darkness in which she lives

People sneer at her
laugh, point , stare
a woman with faded blue eyes
dirty blond hair
in Salvation Army rags
they laugh
they make her feel
'uncomfortable'
they call her
the bag lady
among other names

Sometimes she cries
though she is used to it
her stomach gnaws with hunger pains
as she searches the trash and dumpsters
for a crumb
just a crumb
one crumb

The man at the bakery watches her
his heart is not hard
he calls her
she doesn't hear him
because
she doesn't want to

She knows what he wants
laughing
sneering
pointing
she walks past

Some nights she sees Angels
they call her name
"Jane"
"Jane"
"Hello Jane,
do you know
someday you will inherit
this Earth"?

Someday isn't soon enough for
sweet Jane
someday needs to be today

"Jane, don't cry",
they say
"someday"
"someday"
"someday"

"Please", she whispers
"help me find my way home"
"please", she cries
"let me be visible again"

She feels so alone
she is alone
but when she looks at the faded photograph
her heart feels lighter
the world
brighter

She coughs a lot
her house leaks
her nose runs
her stomach aches with hunger pangs

The Angels visit her every day now
"Jane, someday is now"
"Are you going to show me the way home"?

"Follow the light Jane"
She feels warm for the first time
in so long
the feeling is surreal
the light radiates throughout her
filling her,satiating the hunger
cold, loneliness

In the distance
beneath a tree of
fragrant blossoms
by a stream as clear as crystaline crystal
sets the little girl
"Mommy", she cries
"You finally came home"




 

Author's Note

I am glad I wrote this one on wordpad.. people need to be aware of this ... and not all homeless are drug addicts or alcoholics.. most are people like you and me .. it is said most Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless.. it could happen to any of us!

Reviews

[Lionel Braud]

this poem has a lot going, it is a narrative poem full of heeartache and hope, and has a harsh sense of realism, contemporary urban realism, lot of rhymes and off rhymes, slant rhymes, good use of dialogue, not many use dialogue, robert frost did, this incorporates lots of poetic styles.

[Rich Lampani]

I teared up a little when I read this. Amazing. Thank you. I'm up in the air about the statistics though. I would not have taken the poem for anything but what it was so if it's meant to clear up any misconception of the piece than no they don't need to be there. It makes it almost commercial like. You drove the point home with a perfect amount of emotion and description. That's just my opinion.

[Me]

So beautiful your words are, so depressing the subject. Simply, an incredible poem, terribly sad, yes, but incredible nonetheless. Your words bring a sense of knowledge, of sympathy, to the reader who, unless one has experienced homelessness, would never otherwise be able to become so emotionally attached to the subject. Simply, a superb poem. Thank you for writing this piece, so moving. Unfortunately, since the homeless do not very well have televisions and thus, are not active political observers, they are often forgotten by politicians who run for votes, not for change. They serve merely as pawns in the political game, instead of being acknowledged for what they truly are, people. Even worse, they serve as a singular pawn in the political arena instead of thousands upon hundreds of thousands individual persons. Once again, superbly wonderful work.

~chad~

[M. Andre Vancrown]

Sometimes events in life . . . well, they can hit us so hard that they knock us completely off the path we were on. I've often thought about this, how close any one of us is to being on the streets. What would it take to make us into that invisible person, wandering, lost, devastated and yet unwilling to let go of life? Living in Chicago and LA and other cities, I've seen my share of these folks . . . and like you, I've written about them. Most of them are hard and sad cases, mentally ill, ignored . . . forgotten by society. But some are surprisingly bright, funny, talented, and sane. It makes you wonder what went wrong, of if they just didn't have the support of family and friends that so many of us have when the chips are down.

Well done.

And thanks for sharing this.

Michael

PS Check your spelling! I spotted 3 in this one, bad, bad, bad girl!

[Adam Greenfield]

Such a tragic subject, one that needs to be spoken about in such a way as you've done here. I think your word choices and structure are two things that made me really feel this one, and I don't have any kids. I can only imagine. And that's bad enough. As for the statistics at the end, I think they really drive them home. However, I can see how it might not fit so much as part of the piece itself as it would as an opener or description of the piece. I think they're fine being stated, just where is the artistic part. Great piece here.

[Brandon Meyers]

Beautifully crafted and heart wrenching.

[Wayne Peake]

Hi Cloe

"Jane," is very moving poem, I think it would make an excellant short story. I would leave the statistics in somehow makes the story more poignant...

one lines says "let me visible again," shouldn't this be, -"let me be visible again?"

[Lori]

This brought me to tears. It includes lots of little details that bring the story to life. Thanks for writing it; it is a terrific reminder of the homeless who are too often forgotten.

[Zoie Pain]

Just speechless.

[Noel]

Another fantastic piece, Chloe! I don't know what else to say... I really just love your writing style and can't seem to get enough of it. Thanks for sharing it!

[Dima]

Wow...this was really quite a powerful think-piece! So many of us take for granted the things we have, that we really lose sight of how many Janes there really are, roaming the streets with nothing more than a few bits and pieces they've managed to carry with them on their journey. It really brings to light the fact that no matter how badly we think we've got it, or how piss-poor our lives are, there's always going to be someone who has it worse than we do, and the statistics really help put things into perspective! Absolutely great write, I can't wait to read more!

Cheers!

-Dima