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| Barcelona homeless. Image source: Nae's Nest |
“How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure but it is news when the stock market loses two points?” -- Pope Francis, November 26, 2013
There’s the one who appears only on weekends
To stand near the crowd at popular restaurants
Asking passersby if they can spare a quarter
And the one who disappears for years at a time
To return outside the local supermarket
Pleading for change for something to eat
And the one who sits on a corner sidewalk
With a cardboard sign and a Styrofoam cup
Wrapped in a blanket as she falls asleep
And no matter what changes befall the world
There will always be those caught in its shadows
Whose voices are lost in its bitter winds
Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas in a variety of print and online publications.
