I have no roof over my head, no walls to protect me, just branches endlessly brushing against my back. I am alone and the silence of where I exist fuels my loneliness.
The darkness that surrounds me fosters sad thoughts in me, scary ones that make me wonder where the road that I am on might end. There is no mailbox and were there one no one would write because I’m homeless and no lights shine on me.
A new dawn comes to my eyes with another sunny day ahead. But I greet it not with the spirit that comes with being alive in its brightness, but rather with dark awakening to the sad reality I find myself in. There is frost on my tarp and cold air biting at my face. Another day ahead of me to walk around hungry, with no place to go, with nothing to look forward to.
The scars of meeting up with the wrong people at the wrong time show vividly on me. But are the ones who get such joy out of harming the weak any worse than those who walk past me without acknowledging that I exist, that I am human, without even thinking about trying to lift a broken spirit?
I no longer trust. I endure the silence and the loneliness. And I go on living, but no lights shine on me.
-a poem from ‘the plight of the homeless’ by merle burke- (c) 2025 all rights reserved