Each year for several years I have captured what I could of the experiences of people who have no home to call their own.
<><><><><> 2020
Persist
Persist
Persist
The problems are ours to solve
The problems we have are the problems we share
The people we know are the people who care
The people sitting at the big tables
The people at the side of the ditch
The people who cry
And people who sigh in despair
Persist
Persist
Persist
Hold on to hope
Or tie your hope to your bicycle
But persist
Demand
Investigate
Persist
For years you have tried
For years you have cried
Some years you feel like you have died
Persist
Demand
Instigate
Explain
Support
Move forward
Fall back
Move up
Fall down
Get yourself up off the ground
Spit out the dirt
And persist
It takes the squeaky, the kind, the action
To reveal the humanity of it all
It takes officials with their purse strings and their blah blah
It takes the neighborhoods with their concerns
It takes compassionate people with money
It takes you
It takes me
To solve the homeless mess
To wrestle with the forces of greed and economy
The unseen hand has its fist pounding on the backs of humans
The forces of the night
And the chilly morning light
Reveal the suffering
Of those without a home of their own
Find a pillow
Build a door
Find in your hearts the answers
So this disgrace can be no more
Listen to the people who know the terrors of the streets
Examine the data there is in store
Find the funds for freedom’s answer
Don’t study war no more
Persist
Persist
Persist
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Poem 2017 – there was no update