Homeless Blues

A couple of weeks ago, I did a big piece on the homeless -- and the lack of homeless shelters in our area. The homeless try to be "invisible" to stay out of trouble with the law and the merchants who complain about them and so forth.

This came out of it.

Homeless Blues
by the unSaintly Pat

Yeah, I'm the invisible one
The one you pass on the street,
Your eyes carefully passing over me
While I keep mine on my feet.
I run like a mutt, dodging the stick
I prowl like a cat in the alleys,
Slinking away from a hard, swift kick;
Bullies toy with me. To them, I'm just a bug.

You think I'm not the same as you,
My hat out, panhandling on the corner.
You think I chose this life of rags and rue.
Well, an afternoon gets me a drink
to get me through the night.
So throw me a quarter and tell yourself
how you've done me right.

Just wait until you get really sick
or lose your job, or lose your mind.
Then it might be you dodging the kick.
It doesn't take that much to lose it all.
Just a bit of bad luck, one misstep
Then it's your back against the wall.
Then you'll see how the shoe fits.