Homeless

The cold, brisk San Francisco evening wind howls

Through the canyon between Davies Hall

and the Opera House

The wind creeps, sneaks

Into the doorways strewn with covered

Hidden, bedecked homeless

Resting in hovels like turtles

In their rhinoceros skin

Peeking out at the guilty, flighty passers-by

 

Unshaven, covered with ample woolen clothes and blankets

In cardboard houses, each a misfit

Spelling the story of insane bestiality in its most base form

In alcoholic stupor to forget and sleep

Someone shot, beaten, maimed

 

The mind incoherent, not balanced, confused

The chain of love broken, isolate, suspicious

Absorbed with cancer and disease, maggots inside

Admonition, no recognition

Other than that of vermin

 

Feeling of repeated failure, hopelessness

Numbness of love

Deeply hurt by unforeseen circumstances

The loss of friends matching loneliness

 

The bottle, the match, the penny, the coke, the crack

The gun, AIDS, syphilis, the needle

Remembrance of cure and salvation

only to succumb to the devil again

 

The wreck and ravages of human creatures in a sea of wealth

Where is democracy? Where are the churches, the services?

The homeless multiply and suck like leeches for their life

Accompanied by pet dogs, by grocery carts

Always with cups, hats, and open hands begging

Somehow, right here near the Opera House

With its opulence of chandeliers, foyers, high ceilings

Brightly lit, studded with elegant patrons

The voices of the homeless muted, silent, yet in a ring circling

Becoming art of a theater of life

With all living and dead devout

Proud creatures comprising a living cast

The cast of my cousin, my brother, my sister

 

Someone’s mother or father

And I

Who strut and play and say

Let me survive      let me live

Let me be            just let me

 

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Hard hitting to read. Great contrast between the plight of the homeless and the opulence of the opera house. We have a huge problem in the UK as well, and it isn't always down to addictions. In many cases, it's because of rent arrears, relationship breakdowns and unemployment. It makes me ashamed, that in this day and age we can't even provide shelter for those who desperately need it. Well written.

[Madeira]

A wonderful comparison of the have's and have not's that we see in all major cities, this made me think, thank you