The Homeless Man
I reluctantly wake up to another bleary, dreary day
To see the marks from those broken shards of glass
The anxiety, stress and anger, those desperate cries for help
Wrists throbbing, trails of blood, but still on this mortal earth
Shouting, crying at the top of my voice in my head
Those voices and screams, why why, but still left unheard
A hopeless situation in a hopeless uncaring world
Why do I carry on, I do not know
For I am the homeless man
As I walk and wait for the daily metro as the shops begin to open
Looking on as shutters go up, coffees are poured
Those enticing aromas that I can ill afford
Lost in the wilderness, trying to work things out
Confused, not understanding, just want to hide myself away
Those black clouds that are looming heavily above me
To tired to care anymore, to tired to walk, to tired to care
For I am the homeless man
I am the strange man people look at whilst sneering, jeering
Walking down the road getting on with their lives
The business men that carry on with their shallow existence
Unaware and unwilling to care
Their clockwork lives telling them to carry on
Stepping over you, shouting abuse whilst you just sit there
The mothers and children merrily off to school
Complaining because you’re in the way
Why, because I am the homeless man
I wave my hand out, only wanting some small change, begging to live
Thinking whether I will I eat today, but gone without now for so long
Do I even care whether I die or live in the uncaring world
The tall buildings that are drawing me near
Looking from the rooftops above, just one more step and it will all end
Unsure of what is stopping me taking that last plunge
Is there still a glimmer of hope, a strand from a rope to hold on too
For I am the homeless man
I am the man with hidden disabilities
No sticks or wheels to burden or for people to see
But the one in my head, the other person I hate the most
The resentment and anger I have for myself
For the person I have always long to be
Now the paved streets have turned to doors and bars
The sneers and jibes, anxiety and paranoia
What will the future hold for me, we will have to see
For I am the homeless man
So next time you walk through your town or city
On your way to school, work or leisure
And maybe you will come across a homeless man, woman or child
But do not walk past or shun away
A homeless person they may be, but humans they are too
Spare a kind thought, a handshake, or some small change
Because through some misfortune
You too could also be that homeless person
poem by Alun Jones
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Related quotes
Homeless
Homeless;
- Down by the muddy Mississippi
Skinny as a rail,
Sleeping under the old Eads bridge
Feeling low, dirty, and frail -
Homeless;
- With less than two coins
In both pockets,
Empty eyes
Look through sunken sockets -
Homeless;
- So many people walk right on by
I wonder how many care,
They all keep moving
Even though they stare -
Homeless;
- Lost a job
Lost a home,
Lost a family
Lost all hope -
Homeless;
- Where will I go from here
What should I do,
I'm so thankful when the weather's fair
And the skies are blue -
Homeless;
- Don't know the day nor season
And, yea, it sure gets cold at night,
I've got an old sleeping bag
I'll be alright -
Homeless;
- There's so many of us out here
Without a home,
Even so
I feel so very alone -
Homeless;
- It's a tough situation
Not pretty, just true,
And at any time
It could happen to you -
Homeless;
- Hey buddy...
Could you spare a dime,
And say a prayer for us
... sometime -
- I'm just homeless, not less human...
poem by Smoky Hoss
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The Same As I
i get so tired
of writing poems
about suffering....
but everywhere i look,
all around me,
people are hurting....
and try as i might,
i cant close my eyes,
cant shut my ears up
to the sounds of need and want.
and i cannot be silent
as long as there's one person
who is not free,
one person whose rights
have been violated....
one person who is hungry,
one person who is homeless,
one person sick who cannot
get medical care....
one person abused, enslaved,
or treated like property...
i cannot, and i will not stop,
for they are the same
as i... i see their faces
every time i look in the mirror!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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I am Not Homeless
I am not homeless
there is a number on my door
a room mate cat quilt desk sofa
spray bottles under the sink.
I am not homeless
on the train initiated
showing a monthly ticket to the guard
I am not homeless
at my desk in the office
expected to talk beg
bring in the business
give them the business
business as usual or get the hell out
I am not homeless
in a world of obligation
scrambling to pay rent
electricity gas oil phone commutation
food food food
I am not homeless —
unless I am expected
to feel at home.
poem by J. Barrett Wolf
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Children Should Not Have To Be Homeless
There are thousands of homeless children in Beijing in China though that is not suprising to hear
For where there is a huge population there is poverty too 'twould appear
And China to anywhere else is no different the rich getting richer they say
And just beyond the leafy suburb is the suburb of neglect and decay.
There are thousands of homeless children in New York though with that some may not agree
In America the great Land of commerce no such a thing as poverty?
But the facts of course will tell you differently and in a World of inequality
There too are children homeless and hungry in the so called Land of the free.
There are homeless children in London in England as well as in Paris in France
The poor children of the poor suburb in life they do not have a chance
Their parents in Jail for drug abuse they become the kids of the street
They search the rubbish bins for food in dark alleys and what others do throw out they eat.
There are homeless children in Sydney and Melbourne and anywhere else one might name
Though that does not seem to affect us we never reflect on our shame
That many should have to grow poorer for one to become a millionaire
In a truly egalatarian society would never be looked on as fair.
Children should not have to be homeless though born into abject poverty
They should not be punished for the sins of their parents so much for our humanity
And money to some all that matters and money is married to success
Whilst the children of the poor live homeless on the street of the No Fixed Address.
poem by Francis Duggan
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It Begins Right Now!
we live in the most intense time
that the modern world has seen...
governments and economies are
caving from within... the very
air we breathe is polluted, the
water we drink has been defiled.
sea life is being destroyed, and
the world food situation worsens
at an alarming rate... millions
live and die in poverty, millions
are homeless, without medical care...
masses of workers are unemployed,
children grow up on the streets
without hope, and end up in prison.
human rights are being violated,
or just plain taken. and people
are absolutely afraid of each other!
we have closed our eyes, and numbed
our souls for too long. now we stand
on the brink of disaster, and we're
forced to wake up!
so what can one person do? one person
can live in a way that stands for truth...
one person can demand freedom, and equality.
one person can reach out a helping hand...
and when one person daring to live becomes
millions, we can move the stone from the
mouth of the cave!
but it all begins with one person... and
it begins right now, or its too damned late!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Philadelphia Revised
The sad images of Philadelphia popped out of my eyes today
And I could see the streets of Philadelphia where the homeless sleeps
And freeze to death
While Politicians, doctors, Dentists, lawyers, teachers, and nurses get rich
Day by day
But the homeless freeze to death in the streets of Philadelphia and even die
But I have to ask all of you fellow americans where is your heart?
And doesn't charity starts at home first?
Don't you have anything at home that you could give away to the Homeless so they could have something either to wear or to eat?
Why can't we feed the homeless?
I can't understand you fellow Americans?
Please put yourself in their shoes for a day and try to picture what do they Have to go throw everyday
Is it right for the homeless to sleep in the streets and freeze and eventualy Die in the streets of Philadelphia?
Would you fellow Americans go few days without eating?
I don't think so
Why should the homeless that lives in the streets of Philadelphia starve?
Fellow Americans it is time to think about others and not just yourself Because others live In America just like you
Fellow Americans do you have a heart?
Fellow Americans did you ever learned to share what you have with Others?
Fellow Americans America is a sad world because we waste 98% of our Food at home, restaurants, and supermarkets
And all that wasted food ends up in the dump
It is so ashame and so sad at the same time
But the truth is that we are running out of food
And there is not enough food to feed anyone in America
But the cost of food keeps going up
Because we have to pay the American farmers who plants the food and Transport the food to the supermarkets
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Homelessness In Winter
back about 30 years ago,
living on the streets in Charlotte...
finally found a job... was lucky enough
to have a place to take a shower...
sleeping in the backseat of a broke
down Ford Maverick... cold winter...
got up and walked 4 miles to work
every morning,4 miles 'home' in the
evening...
went on for a couple months before
i got a place to live...
so yes i know what homelessness
feels like...and i cant help thinking
about all the empty foreclosed houses....
empty houses, homeless people....
back then, even if you couldnt find a
real job, they had a place where you
could go and line up to do day work...
worked all day for about 25 dollars...
if you couldnt do that, you could always
sell blood.... i dont know what they do
now....i just know it's a hard life...and if
you've got family, got kids...
something to think about the next time
you see a homeless person walking the
streets!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Homeless who writes on a ballot!
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack 'fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence.'The legal definition of 'homeless' varies from country to country, or among different entities or institutions in the same country or region.
The term homeless may also include people whose primary night-time residence is in a homeless shelter, a warming center, a domestic violence shelter or other ad hoc housing situation. Government homeless enumeration studies also include persons who sleep in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
If the Citizen are good
Then why should a Police Department?
If the Citizen are good
And a Homeless becomes the President
Then why do they bother for another Election?
*'A Moral collapse, culture of greed and selfish indifference is to blame for the recent riots.'
-British Prime Minister Mr.David Cameron
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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Be thrifty..
when we look for our next dozen sweaters,
there are thousands have no even one.
wrap themselves in rags that are dirty,
lie on the sides hearing heavy sounds.
The trucks that carry tons,
The cars that carry none,
The rickshaws that carry nine,
never disturb the slumber they are in.
When the mid night parties irritate us,
When the crying of babies tortures us,
When the noise from neighbors threaten us,
How these people can sleep in noise?
a vagrant in Glasgow is no different
from a homeless in Edinburgh,
As these two are not at all
worse than homeless in India.
When the formers have dogs as pets.
the latter live with animals.
Bulls, cows, cats, dogs and reptiles underneath,
The life goes on for millions.
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
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Chronically homeless means constantly homeless; it means repeatedly homeless.
quote by Linda Lingle
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To be honest, I have done a lot of exciting and challenging things. However, what is the most fulfilling to me is the work that I do on a daily basis, in taking care of my patients and my experience as a medical correspondent on television. Traveling to Pakistan to cover the earthquake, helping Katrina disaster victims, and seeing so many children who were injured and homeless had a very humbling effect upon me. You realize that a lot of what we worry about in our daily lives pales in comparison to the horrors most people face in this world, and that true happiness and contentment are achieved not through fame or riches, but by the ability to impact the lives of others and to evolve as a person. My long term goals include continuing the humanitarian work about which I am passionate, continuing to work as a medical doctor, and expanding that into work as a medical correspondent.
Pavan Grover in Yellow Magazine (September 2006)
Submitted by Simona Enache
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So Many Poor Souls And Not Many Who Care
So many poor souls and not many who care
Are doing it quite tough in the big World out there
The homeless and hungry teenagers of poverty street
Are searching in rubbish bins for something to eat
The gap is increasing in the social divide
And millions are Stateless and Homeless and hungry World wide
The victims of droughts and wars and disease
In the refugee camps millions of refugees.
The marginalized are doing it quite tough
On poverty street they are sleeping rough
People should not have to go hungry in the World of today
But such is not the case that does seem sad to say
For one wealthy person thousands in poverty
Those who need far more than words of sympathy
People who look old before they reach their life's prime
To be born to poor parents is their only crime.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Homeless Brother
I was walking by the graveyard, late last Friday night,
I heard somebody yelling, it sounded like a fight.
It was just a drunken hobo dancing circles in the night,
Pouring whiskey on the headstones in the blue moonlight.
So often have I wondered where these homeless brothers go,
Down in some hidden valley were their sorrows cannot show,
Where the police cannot find them, where the wanted men can go.
There's freedom when your walking, even though you're walking slow.
Smash your bottle on a gravestone and live while you can,
that homeless brother is my friend.
It's hard to be a pack rat, it's hard to be a 'bo,
but living's so much harder where the heartless people go.
Somewhere the dogs are barking and the children seem to know
That Jesus on the highway was a lost hobo.
And they hear the holy silence of the temples in the hill,
And they see the ragged tatters as another kind of thrill.
And they envy him the sunshine and they pity him the chill,
And they're sad to do their living for some other kind of thrill.
Smash your bottle on a gravestone and live while you can,
that homeless brother is my friend.
Somewhere there was a woman, somewhere there was a child,
Somewhere there was a cottage where the marigolds grew wild.
But some where's just like nowhere when you leave it for a while,
You'll find the broken-hearted when you're travelling jungle-style.
Down the bowels of a broken land where numbers live like men,
Where those who keep their senses have them taken back again,
Where the night stick cracks with crazy rage, where madmen don't
pretend,
Where wealth has no beginning and poverty no end.
Smash your bottle on a gravestone and live while you can,
that homeless brothe
song performed by by Don McLean
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Winter Night
My window-pane is starred with frost,
The world is bitter cold to-night,
The moon is cruel, and the wind
Is like a two-edged sword to smite.
God pity all the homeless ones,
The beggars pacing to and fro,
God pity all the poor to-night
Who walk the lamp-lit streets of snow.
My room is like a bit of June,
Warm and close-curtained fold on fold,
But somewhere, like a homeless child,
My heart is crying in the cold.
poem by Sara Teasdale
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A Poem On Recession
A family left homeless
Starving in the cold
Robbed of all they had
Through no fault of their own
They cling to the wealth care
Of a now broken state
A country on it knees
Pleading for some aid
Gone the heady days
When succession bells rang out
Another account closed
Another business bought
All paid for in loans
A promise that was not kept
So many turned a blind eye
And did not see what came
All that once being built
Was without any foundation
Once the first began to fall
It was like a pack of cards
Now the world it seems
Is all but at the very end
Another footnote posted
In a countries obituary
A family homeless, starving
Who have done no wrong
Look pale eyed into the world
And ask themselves, why?
poem by Matthew Holloway
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End Of The World....
i'm not concerned about the end of the world...
for me the world ends every day that we're
still fighting wars, that children around the world
go to bed hungry, that families are left homeless,
that men and women cant find jobs, that people
are denied justice and equality, that children cant
afford to go to school, that old people cant get
medical care, enough to eat, or a place to live...
that lonely people cant find love.... and that nobody
seems to give a damn!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Don't Cry, Child
Don't cry, child
For children starving far away
For homeless people on the streets
Begging for change.
Don't cry, child
For those of us who have no dreams
Who live in dark holes
That we dig ourselves, laboriously - why?
Don't cry, child
For forgotten rainbows
Or melancholy rainstorms
For wispy clouds, always drifting away.
Don't cry, child
For who you are not
Or who you have been
For who you are.
Don't cry, child
For the last animal of it's kind
The mother who cannot feed her children
A planet in need.
Don't cry, child
When you stand on the edge of forever
And wish you could fly
And see the world at your fingertips.
Don't cry, child
For long-gone yesterdays
Or yearned-for tomorrows
Don't cry, child
For what you have done today
Forgive
Start a new day
Make it better than the last.
poem by Nina Dringo
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Underworld (live)
To the underworld
To the underworld i'm going down
Step into the ground
Into the breath of/from the gutter of the underworld
What will be i don't know
And i don't care if somebody's asking me
But i never will go
Back to the places where i once used to be
I don't care who you were
Cause we never stay the same
Every moment's a change in the concrete game
I don't care where you've been
Everybody's astray
Like a homeless bird in the stormy bays
Of the underworld
Of the underworld
Welcome, welcome to the underworld
Now i'm on my way cause i'm out of bounds
Direction unknown which is always
What you don't understand
Vague vision in front as the past
Is calling from the lost and found
Never ever turn around, don't wait
And you'll work it out, work it out
I don't care who you were
Cause we never stay the same
Every moment's a change in the concrete game
I don't care where you've been
Everybody's astray
Like a hopeless bird in the stormy bays
Of the underworld
Of the underworld
Welcome, welcome to the underworld
song performed by by Alphaville
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tis True What Is Said About People
'Tis true what is said about people that everyone has a life story to tell
Though not everybody's life story in book form a million copies would sell
The biography of a poor homeless person many would not be interested to read
Life's journey from the poorest suburb to success for most people never lead
The lives of elite sports people and celebrities and those of power and money makes the best sellers list
Just reading of and hearing about them the masses cannot seem to resist
Suppose we only admire in others what we ourselves aspire to be
Most wish to be wealthy and famous and none wish to live in poverty
Most do wish to be wealthy and famous and others their praises to sing
Suppose to wish to be loved and admired is quite human it does seem a natural thing
But the road to success is a steep road and few ever climb to renown
And what hope for the poor and the homeless who live in the poor side of the town?
You ask one of their life wishes poverty he or she never choose
But the sad thing about the Human World is that for one to win many must lose.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Overlord of the World
If I were in charge of the world
Lots of things would be different
There would be world peace
All war would cease
If I were in charge of the world
I would never be sad
Always surrounded
By a friendly fad
If I were in charge of the world
All the resources would be replenished
We would never run out of oil
All of this taking place in the dreamworld
If I were in charge of the world
There would be no homeless people
People would care for others
The cruelness will crumple
*Fad is an inside joke; it’s a person who is kind and friendly
poem by Brandon Martin
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