Pariah

Parasitic member of modern society

Standing on the streetcorner

Or sitting in the alley, all used up

Hollow homeless hungry

But still human

Though they do not see you

 

Ah, but you don't want to be seen

Better to blend with the walls

The garbage bins, already tired of

Hollow lifeless drones who pass

Who lost their humanity

So that they cannot see you

 

Pariah, you seem to be now

Untouchable, uncommon, unclean

No matter that you want work

Now you've been marked as

A solitary bum who haunts

No one who will not see him

 

I saw you, I'm ashamed to admit

I saw you, and I looked away

But not because I did not care

Only because I could not help

I... but two steps above pariah now

After years of struggle-

That struggle that now is yours, not mine.

 

Author's Note

I have a view of homelessness and poverty that some will never share, because they have not seen it from the point of view that I have. I often feel the strongest sense of guilt for not being more capable of helping. Then I remind myself that if I am not careful, it could again be me, I could be the pariah.

Reviews

[Writer CW Kirkland]

This was a very interesting write especially because of the ending. I was intrigued by the narrator's unwillingness to assist the homeless after being in the same situation in the past. Most people have more empathy for someone who is experiencing a similar situation as their own, but the narrator seems to now consider himself/herself above that situation. The flow of this poem seemed somewhat choppy, but it is written in a way that also evokes emotion in the readers.

[alternative_be]

Dear Constance,
I totally agree with your author's note. In my line of work, I've met some people who have been homeless at some time in their life and the predjudices against the homeless hurt me than my poem can tell. I've known people 'sans to�t' who actually own a masters' degree ... I recently saw a programme about a neighbourhood in Brussels, well known for it's flee markets, cosy neighbourhood pubs but also for the homeless people living there ... One man used to own his own, not so small company, before getting homeless! Sadly, a lot of people lack empathy!