Today October 10 has two holidays that are bookends on the shelves of observances--World Mental Health Day and World Homeless Day. Over 3.5 million homeless in the U.S. alone, over a third with children, thousands of vets who have served this nation, countless addicts, mentally ill, all sharing one common thread--invisible and abandoned by the political sector and overwhelming the charitable sector's resources.
Shopping Cart Scooners
In the 19th
Century they loaded prairie schooners with staples and hope
Miles of
prairie, deserts and rivers to cross, mountains to climb
All
possessions on their backs or in the wagons
Oxen
pulling, cattle moving slowly behind
Mile after
mile toward the setting sun
Mile after
mile, closer to the promised land
Settlers in
search of new lives and dreams
Frontier
open, gates unlocked
Today on the
streets and parks in our cities
The
schooners are shopping carts
The
possessions in plastic bags
Devoid of
hope, devoid of dreams
No Holiday
Inns or Motel Sixes
A bus bench,
a park bench or a parking lot
Nomads with
no place to go
Always on
the move by the police
Addicts, alcoholics
and the mentally ill
Faceless,
nameless, unwashed, skin a canvas of sores
No roofs for
shelter, only stars and the moon
No take out
or dining in
Only the
pickings from the trash
No city is
immune from the homeless spread
But shelters
are rarer than winning Powerballs
The 10th
of October is World Homeless Day
Time to roll down the windows
Take off the blinders
Time to the instinct to help obey
© October
10, 2015, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet
Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
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The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift
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