April 29: Homelessness - 3 and 4

III.

A shelter could be a safe place to stay,

Or a cesspool of drugs and crime.

All the best shelters are out of the way:

And make sure to be there on time!

And don’t you expect to get much sleep!

For breakfast, it’s grits and an egg.

You better carry what you want to keep.

When you run out of money, you’ll  beg!

You stay out on the streets.

You meet  up with some goon,

And it’s $80 a week

If you want your own room!

Choose between working and something to eat.

Choose between hustling and just working tired.

Choose between planning and the law of the street.

Who can find in these struggles one thing to admire?

I wound up in a seedy neighborhood,

Afraid to carry what’s left of my cash,

And not doing anyone a bit of good.

My clothes are somebody’s trash.

I couldn’t open up a bank account

With my license is from out of state.

With no local address, and so small and amount . . .

I can work it, but I’ve just got to wait.

IV

I am angry.  I’m tired.

i don’t see much enjoyment.  

Work a week and get fired.

Can’t collect unemployment.

I’ll get something cheap to shake up my brain;

Let me dream!  Let me find a new vision!

It’s worth it if it lets me numb my pains,

Or if it helps me to feel my condition!

An officer tells me to get on the move.

A friend says I’m wasting away.

I’m asking myself what I’m trying to prove

By just living from day to day!

Now the question I’m asking -- is “how shall I love?”

What have I to offer my friends?

To see such decay, and rise above it,

Until all of it’s put to an end?

I painted a picture of a ghetto scene;

I quoted an appropriate scripture.

I learned what I could from the places I’ve been.

I ask where people stand in this picture!

I’ve handed out blankets; adopted a pet;

Asked the Mayor to come up with a plan!

I try to surmise what it takes to get set.

I assist where I feel that I can!

Still, I’m trying to be my own best friend!

I want to hook up with a girl!

While I haven’t spare time, I still like to pretend

I can go out and save the world!

The question I’m asking is “Where is the love

When we’re struggling so hard to survive:

So much destruction to rise above, . . .

And be ALIVE amongst the alive!