Brick City's Homeless

I am a high school graduate and a former college student I have no children No drug or alcohol addiction nor do I have a home I am one of Brick City's homeless Many of the faces I've seen downtown are the same faces I see at the soup kitchen or the shelter The same quirky, ragged, foul-smelling, quiet homeless people But these aren't the only homeless people Many of the faces I've seen at the soup kitchen or at the shelter, I've also seen downtown The same outgoing, inconspicuous and "average" yet homeless people I used to assume I'd pass up to 10 of the same homeless people downtown Now that I'm one of them and pretty much every homeless person knows every homeless person You'd probably feel blessed and highly favored when I tell you that the majority of adult pedestrian traffic downtown are homeless United State citizens The majority are homeless We're at the library, McDonald's, Penn Station, 18 Rector, 50 South Clinton, all Essex County Parks, 990, Red Doors, St. Johns or the sidewalk with our book bags, purses, suitcases and our will, however weak or strong, to live for right now We get in where we fit in The most thrilling part of my day is knowing what time the next soup kitchen serves and when I'm unconscious and dreaming Most are not bums Most are caught in a cyclical cycle of destitution because they have a record and can't qualify for anything other than a 9-5 Or don't have a job because there are no jobs and don't have anyone to take care of them without taking advantage of their situation, be it sexually or by an unfair criminal or immoral request Most of us just can WAIT until! . . . and there's no one here to help me right now I understand though: It's likewise This homeless lifestyle encourages me to keep dreaming, faintly hope and never expect anything My high hopes and expectations left me ____ out in the streets of Newark It's 4 o'clock . . . On to the next soup kitchen