[Is “optimistic poet” an oxymoron?  This poem can be read column by column or all the way through.  Each way to read may yield perspective.]

Screaming at the rain with jail plastic bags in hand
Just released back to the streets without a plan
Soaked to the bone
With no ride home
That’s the world we live in

Signing in the rain when life’s not so bad
Sometimes the simple is enough to be had
Anyone who actually looks at me can’t help but care
As long as there’s some help somewhere
Is that the world we live in

Hours of testimony on spending windfall money
The advocates are there,
although they can hardly hear
The back and the forth of the blah blah
That’s the world we live in

Friendships are formed as we conspire
Plans to make our best get higher
Struggles for money don’t tear us apart
Just life as we know it but we do our part
Is that the world we live in

Friends outside in the rain
Late winter brought misery again
Homeless infuriated at no action
Despite all the signs of the needs in our times
That’s the world we live in

Proposals prepared and numbers add up
Bizarre way to come unstuck
But openness and grace ensue
If with our hearts these things we do
Is that the world we live in

Leaders discussing options
With insufficient evidence and little review
Explanations are made whether softly said or intense
Can’t hear, so can’t tell if they made any sense
That’s the world we live in

Wisdom spoken loud and clear
from the ones that have no fear
Knowing tiny homes or tents
Blessed in community they are sent
Is that the world we live in

Those without homes don’t need to read tomes
They don’t have time to discuss Federal mandates and such
It’s cold and wet out there
Does anyone care
That’s the world we live in

While struggles continue all night and all day
Some may listen to the things we say
Some have a heart and a home and a door
If you let me in I won’t need more
Is that the world we live in

Those with housing confront doing it right
But some people sleep outside at night
While “I” s getting dotted, and “T”s get crossed
What to do for those still lost
That’s the world we live in

Holding forth and shouting out
It’s time to tell the world about
What people want and what people need
Some of us will practice our creed
Is that the world we live in

It’s about money and perception
Yet many have the misconception
That people outside aren’t fit to come in
Because they smell like sin
That’s the world we live in

So many folks really do care
Hours of help and service they share
Compassionate hearts want to be part
Of meeting the need to make a new start
Is that the world we live in?

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An Earlier homeless poem

I’m alive
I’m walking down the sidewalk singing in the rain
I’m not sheltered under a bridge
As the water rises.
I’m soaking wet
But I do art.
I have no money
But my boyfriend loves me
In the forests of the night
I shiver
The next day I look for a job
I look forward.
The kindness of strangers sustains me
There is hope because there is caring
Anyone who actually looks at me
Can’t help but care

Even if they deny me.

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