Monday, July 28, 2008

Bum


"Bum"
I sit here alone,
For I know no one
and no one knows me
as I sit here alone in these streets,
no one can see me
and no one wants to see me,
so I constantly sleep
in these shadows,
having the darkness all to my own
to sit in all alone
with dirt on this face and raggedy clothes,
these weary eyes have seen the dark
and this lonely mind has been lonely for a very long time;
In the shadows I stay
to die alone
away from a world I was never a part of,
I die and the world will never know
never to show-a tear,
or grow
to embrace me,
For no one can see me,
Nothing is all I can be
in a world that has forgotten me,
to sit alone in these streets
to die alone where no one will see
to leave this world
and have no one ever remember me,
Because I know no one
and no one knows me.
-Armando Torres

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That spoke to me...there is a homeless man that often sleeps in the field near my house. He breaks my heart. People call the police on him because they either think he's dead or a nuisance. He gets up and hobbles off for a while and then comes back. I watch him sometimes and feel bad for him. When it's freezing outside or we have heat warnings or it's storming, I think about him and all the people who have nowhere to go and I am grateful for the roof over my head and the food in the fridge.

Anonymous said...

That was excellent.
People don't even realize how close they are to being next.
Thanks

Mohkim and Sarah said...

And then he watched the Sky burn
As the Sun set and drowned,
The Sea so quite, as it gulped it down
He watched the silent shores, all calm
And came to him no relief
He watched in silence,
his heart bleed
And yet now a frown upon his face
Aging with time as came the waves
He waited no more for breaths to hold
His loneliness now had made him bold~

Sardar Mohkim Khan

This Brazen Teacher said...

I knew a girl in college who dressed up as if she was homeless for a writing assignment. She wanted to research the experience for one day, and encountered things that were astounding.

I will remember the most that she said it was exhausting never being able to sit down. If she stayed in a public space too long, the police, or business owners would shoo her along. Our society does treat these people terribly.

Anonymous said...

How tragic your poem yet beautiful too in a really sad way. It reminds me of a saying, "But for the grace of God go I".

JV said...

i really enjoyed that, thank you!

DavidL said...

Give to a homeless person wherever/whenever you meet him/her. Don't throw your money but hand it politely over. Look the person in the eyes & say you're welcome as he/she thanks you for your care. A small act of kindness goes a long way to make a person feels like a human again, even if it is just a fleeting moment. Thank you.