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| A woman sleeping at a McDonald’s restaurant in Hong Kong in October. Across East Asia, 24-hour McDonald's have become a sanctuary for the downtrodden, providing a warm, dry place to sleep. Credit Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times, Dec. 31, 2015 |
After birthday candle whites
are blown out,
Kids all snug tucked
in their beds,
Once Invisible down-and-outs
retire to a corporate
Cash-cow Behemoth
For a good night's restless sleep,
To stay warm for a while.
No other shelters available,
No families of their own to turn to,
“McRefugees" of East Asia,
With no other place to go.
On a good night: Feed on
half-eaten Big Macs,
Chew on salty stale fries,
Lie down in a padded
booth for comfort,
'Til just before dawn,
the dominion call comes:
“Put on your shoes,
this is not your home.”
Then just enough time
to comb your black hair,
With a disposable fork--
and vanish.
Gil Hoy is a Boston trial lawyer, writer and poet. He studied poetry at Boston University, while receiving a BA in Philosophy and Political Science. Gil received an MA in Government from Georgetown University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. He served as a Brookline, Massachusetts Selectman for four terms. His poetry has appeared most recently in Third Wednesday, The Write Room, The Eclectic Muse, Clark Street Review and TheNewVerse.News.