Lisa Fay Coutley | Shelter: Michigan
He wants me
to believe he met Jesus in Memphis
after his car went dead & he forgot
& forgot & forgot to feed his dog.
Video: Zarlasht Halaimzai | What it’s like to be a war refugee
In this poignant, vital talk, Zarlasht Halaimzai articulates the lingering trauma of being expendable — and shares how belonging to a community can help bring back feelings of long-lost safety.
Michael Simms: Brotherly Love
we’re afraid to look deprivation
in the eye, resent admitting our own dumb luck
Jefferson Carter: Cat & Transient
I swore I’d stop writing about liberal guilt
& about cats too, but I must confess
last night, I groomed our little black cat
with my tongue
Jose Padua: Union Square
their crazy dad, his singular
song, with the only people putting money
in his cup looking as crazy as he did
Deborah Bogen: Homeless Box
Sometimes we cross to the other side to get away from their carts and tarps, to avoid their dirty murky faces, but mostly we look through them, past them, above them, our eyes seeking the sanctuary of the shiny store windows.
Philip F. Clark: The Beggar’s Welcome
He stopped and asked if I could spare some change. I thought, Oh yes, I could spare so much: another job, a new home, other clothes, better weather, more chances, … Continue reading
Andrena Zawinski: Twilit Sonnet
In twilight’s dusky backstreets and muted alleys, the dispossessed huddle for the evening in boxes or sleeping bags, under freeways, at doorways, inside storage bins. They retreat to the … Continue reading
Video: “Buitenkant” (The Outside)
. Winner of the Jury Award at Shnit Worldwide Film Festival 2016. A homeless woman in Cape Town breaks into an apartment, where her experience turns into a complex reflection … Continue reading
Patricia A. Nugent: Rush to Judgment
She shuffles up to me on the sidewalk, paper cup in hand. She speaks so softly, I can’t understand what she’s saying. I ask her to repeat it. “I’m homeless. … Continue reading
Susan Sailer: Life That Hard
23 degrees. He sat on the sidewalk near a street with a stoplight, a sign propped beside him HELP I born deaf, homeless Anything help On two layers … Continue reading
Gyorgy Faludy: Refugees in Paris, 1939
(Párizs, 1939) Our tight budget afforded only cornmeal. We cooked up a two-kilo batch in a big pot on a hotel hotplate. It bubbled. When done, we poured it out … Continue reading
Jose Padua: These Down and Out Days in the Land of Everything
You can tell me all you know about love and glue, how body parts fit and rub, wrap around each other like leafy vines, or of hurricane winds blowing out … Continue reading
Doug Anderson: Belchertown
. This old half-mad woman who pushes an empty baby carriage up and down the sidewalk in Belchertown. I realized I’ve never looked in her face. It is unbearable. All … Continue reading
Vox Populi 