Homeless

I wrote this in my writing class once. Yes, it's really dark and depressing, and maybe not good at all, and sometimes, it is exactly what I feel like.

“Home is where the heart is.” I wonder who came up with these words. Do they really mean anything? Because if they do, then I… am homeless. For me, homeless isn’t living on the streets. Homeless is being unloved, being suffocated by the walls I live in. It is feeling the pain when there is no one to turn to. Being homeless is being a little kid listening to the screaming downstairs, then drowning it out with loud music and my ragged sobs. Being homeless is trying not to listen, but being afraid to miss anything. It is the feeling of waking up each morning in a cold, cold bed and having the fear creep back into my mind. The fear that today will be even worse than yesterday. Being homeless is knowing I am trapped like a bird in a cage, knowing that the monster of my nightmares will come back to claim me no matter how beautiful every sunrise looks. Like the night claims daylight, like a predator claims its prey. It is having somewhere semi-warm to go to at night, but not wanting to. It is turning off the light to sleep, but staying awake for hours to make sure I am still breathing. But being homeless is also telling myself to search for my heart, my sanctuary every day and still fighting for every thump in my chest. It is finding the little points of light in the darkness. If home is where the heart is, I will look for my heart everywhere I go… And maybe someday I won’t be homeless. Maybe someday I will have a real home to call mine.

Author's Note

I don't know if I'd really classify this as a prose poem, but tell me what you think! Hate it, love it, whatever--just tell me why!

Reviews

[Keli Renee]

Hey girl. You reviewed one of my poems today, so I thought I'd return the favor-and boy, am I glad I did! This piece is amazing. I really don't see how you could doubt yourself. I can both sympathize, AND empathize with the narrator (whether this was written because you experienced it, or if its completely fictional) because I know exactly what this feels like. I live it, every single day. You put my feelings into words that I don't think even I could have done a better job with. I kid you not, girl, I nearly cried. Please keep writing, and post more of your work! I would love to read more.

-Keli Rene

[Star Wolf]

I loved it. It is full of pain and fear. I'm wondering who is hurting the person in the writing, a human monster who something coming in from the night to hurt her. Very tragic but a very wonderful and powerful piece of writing. Very well done.

[Luna]

It is beautiful in a sad sense. The ideas are sad but the way you wrote it makes it beautiful. I did find one minor flaw, a small grammatical error. Other than that, it is beautiful.

"like a predatory claims its prey." Do you mean predator?