Homeless
Riding an adult size trike
with the basket on the back,
he pedals past.
"There goes the homeless guy,"
someone says.
Not many even notice him.
No one really keeps track.
I'm not sure what he eats.
I suspect he goes dumpster diving,
scrounging for discarded sandwiches,
fast food trash
washed down with water from a public fountain,
outdated bakery goods and produce
retrieved from the local grocery bin.
He gets by, but I wouldn't call it thriving.
I guess it's one way of surviving.
He's unpleasant to be around.
He grunts and sneers and swears.
His teeth and nails are nasty and gnarly.
He smells.
He's intentionally rude and obnoxious,
frightening little children and old ladies.
He has chosen his path.
He wants to be there--
alone in his world where nobody wants him,
where nobody cares.
Some have tried to help:
steering him to shelters, churches, and food banks.
He bluntly refuses all offers;
preferring his solitude,
going his own way, following his own rules.
He pushes their kindness away
with a loud and resounding,
"No thanks."
No one seems to know
how he came to be this way,
how his life became the twisted way it is.
"There but for the grace of God go I,"
is the thought that comes to me.
Thank the Lord for me and mine
that our lives are not like his.
31 comments:
How well you put it Daisy.
Honest and compassionate too.....
Well said Daisy. I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head and a place to rest my head at night and food in my belly. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, all. He comes to the library some times. I always wonder if he has any family anywhere and what happened to him that he ended up the way he is. I feel sorry for him, but he seems to want to live his life just the way he is living it. So sad and so strange.
I think somebody DOES care, Daisy -- you.
I remember all the homeless guys at the main library here, downtown. I know where they go in summer at night. But I wonder about the winter.
And yes, we never know someone's story. Sad and strange indeed, is his.
xoox
We all care, I want to believe ... it is he who turns us away.
We had a lady & man like this in our small town. They wanted no one to interface with them in any way, shape or form. We used to give them money occasionally. And, then one day both left the area ... at different times. I still so wonder of them & hope they are safe.
Great share, Daisy. Love that Rose of Sharon.
Have a beautiful weekend.
TTFN ~
Hugs
Marydon
Oh You have touched my heart so much with this and the way you captured him. So compassionate. That's the way I felt when I wrote the one called Ties That Bind..Susie
Daisy, this man's situation is so very sad, but sadder yet as he refueses all offers of help, shelter, and compassion.
We should all be so thankful for our lives. I have a feeling that the homeless man may have some sort of mental illness - many homeless people do and refuse help. One of my friend's mothers "chooses" to be homeless and refuses all offers of help - it's very sad.
Hi Daisy, Sad about the homeless man... Unfortunately, so many homeless people CHOOSE that life... When I lived in New Orleans, our church worked alot with the homeless... They truly didn't want to improve their situations... Crazy--but true... Sad, isn't it?
Hugs,
Betsy
He is cantankerous and not what anyone would call likable, but I do think his situation is very sad, and I do care about what happens to him. Yes, the fact that he refuses any help is one of the saddest things about him too. Shelley, I've wondered that too. He sometimes talks to himself, and some of the things he says leads me to believe that he may have a mental illness.
Thank you all for your comments. I've often thought about writing about this man, but never got around to doing it. Then I happened to find myself behind him on the street with a camera in hand to take this picture. Writing about it seemed the next natural step.
Thought provoking, Daisy. It makes me wonder how he got there and what's going on in his head. I've already imagined an entire scenario for his past and wonder if now he feels "free"...
J, that's a good point. I wonder if there is some horror in his past that he is running away from. That would make some sense as to why he chooses to live the way he does.
Nice poem, but kinda sad.
Thank you, Susan. Yes, indeed, this is a sad one.
Very poignant piece Daisy, you should publish your poetry on Authorstream.
Thank you, Ryan. I'm not familiar with Authorstream. I'll look into it.
A very thought-provoking poem, Daisy. So sad but sometimes many do not want our help. My niece lives near Piedmont Park in Atl. and there are many homeless who live in the park. She has offered assistance to many, but like this man, they turn the help away.
Have a very nice weekend. Blessings to you and your family.
wow poignant, very good Daisy, it probably sums up so many that have in some way chosen this lifestyle.
Thank you, Mildred. I hope you are enjoying your weekend too.
Sandy, it is so hard to understand why someone would purposely choose to live this way when there are alternatives, but it seems there are so many that do just that.
Solemn thought and a side of life we rarely take the time to contemplate. I worry that my kids may forget to eat their vegetables - what about him?
Diana, I agree. When I take the time to stop and consider the conditions and circumstances of other peoples' lives, it makes me all the more grateful for what I've been given in mine.
Very well said. You need two hands to clap but he is not stretching out his hands despite all the compassion reaching out to him. Gotta leave him with his own free world.
Oh, Daisy, your poem touched my heart. You wrote it with such compassion. I really feel for this poor man. Across American there are many homeless people. I feel so sorry for these people. It sounds as though you really care. I care, too.
Bananaz, when someone refuses help that is offered, there really isn't much else that you can do. I don't know, maybe he's happy living that way, but he never seems very happy. He mostly seems angry at the world.
Brenda, it is upsetting to know there are so many that are homeless. Many do get the help they need to make a new start, but some just prefer to have that kind of lifestyle, I guess.
Daisy, how much this touched my heart! I always wonder, when I see someone on the street,.........."what's their story......do they belong to someone........somewhere?" Just love your words. blessings,Kathleen
Thank you, Kathleen. Yes, I wonder the same, I wonder if they have any family and if anyone is looking for them. It's so sad.
Hi Daisy. This was very moving. I'm fairly sure that most homeless people, especially the ones that don't want any help, are mentally ill. I don't know how our country can just let these people fall through the cracks. But that's exactly what's happening, and has been for years, when the mental hospitals started closing down.
Becky, yes, I think many of them may be mentally ill and have fallen through the cracks. Perhaps they have no family or the relatives they do have don't care what happens to them. In any case, it is a very sad situation.
Very poignant, Daisy. And so touching the way you articulated his own state of life and how you felt about it.
Sometimes people will punish themselves for the state they find themselves in, and sometimes in refusing help they might be letting their own sense of dignity and hurt intersect with the reality of their their life.
Like most others I'm sure he too had a dream growing up, and somewhere along the way the dream must've been overtaken by a turn of events too difficult to overcome before affecting the ability to look after himself.
In refusing help he might well be rejecting himself more than the one offering him help.
Anil P, I hadn't thought of it that way, but I agree, that could be true. He may be punishing himself for something he did in the past by refusing help. Perhaps he feels he deserves this fate for some reason. For whatever reason his life has become what it is, it still makes me sad to think about it.
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