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.

[Z.Silas]

this is not too far from the truth that we all live in, it's such a thin line between joy and despair and you capture it quite lovely.

[Gandré]

This is very sad aspect of someone's life. Well written, Chloe... I liked it. My opinion about this is that the misery begins in the family of a person. if not enough love or confronted with violence, of course another perhaps genetic dispositions - then there is a weak personality. emotionally labil. Strange that we have now more of it then before. I think love is healing and such people need just being loved then they get a stability..? amazing piece. I wouldn't be able to write it. I would be too touched. then I feel paralyzed and lost for I cannot help now.

[MistyJRose]

Love the poem. It does set a dismal scene that plays out everyday in our own backyard. I've always said we need to focus more on our homeless than that of the other countries. We worry about them more then ours. I know i seem harsh, but your poem rings true. Too many are lost, too mnay dont have homes. Yes i am grateful that me and hubby have a home, but sometimes it becomes more than we can afford to handle. You've done well protraying our homeless here. Keep it up. Great writing.

[Carey Edelman]

This made me cry. I used to go NYC all the time and there would always be this woman that washed our windows as we came through the tunnel. She broke my heart. I had forgotten about her until just now. Thank you for reminding me that humanity is too precious to take for grated.

[Kristallo]

So lonely and tragic.. it made me sad. But in a good way, because it was a wonderful read and I really like your use of imagery, I could see everything happening inside my head as I read it. Very nicely written.

[Amanda Crandall]

I know something on this subject, sadly. Surprisingly easy to have 'home' slip out from under you, very good read thank you for posting it Chloe and I hope you are feeling better.