Best Homeless Poems
A homeless man played his guitar,
for coin rewards put in a jar.
A lonely life he always led,
but in his heart a love he had.
This love he thought of all the time,
during the cold days brought sunshine.
His songs were of a girl he loved,
he sang to her, with stars above.
So many years had gone on by,
but in his heart, and reasons why.
There was this hope that would not die,
the thought of her just made him cry.
Dedicated to my
daughter Ashley...
Michael Tor
As I walked into the banquet hall of the
Goodman’s Inn, the first thing that stood
out to me were the eyes of the people. I
felt as though I could actually see hope. Eyes
seemed to sparkle and everyone in the hall
sat talking to the others sitting around them
as they waited for the main course of the evening.
To understand this report we need to go back just
over a year ago when Lindsey Long won the 50
million dollar lottery. Apparently the multimillionaire
booked the Goodman’s Inn for December 24th through
to January 2nd of this year solely to house the homeless
over the Christmas holidays. Miss Long walked through
the streets herself over the last week inviting the
unfortunate homeless to come to the motel for these
festivities. Lindsey Long has not only provided the rooms
for this week, she also has clothed them with new
wardrobes and warm winter clothing and accessories.
Now as the people sat around the table they were
told Miss Long had an announcement. We all waited
to hear what this amazing lady had to say
and excitement filled the room. When this
beautiful young woman began to talk there
wasn’t one dry eye in the building. She told them
how she was not going to just send them back
on the street next week but how she had
built a new centre that would have sleeping
facilities and showers to accommodate all
of them. This new facility will be serving
three meals a day which will be prepared solely
from themselves on a voluntary bases.
The feeling in the Inn that night was pure joy
and as the people realized the impact of this
wonderful news, they all broke out singing
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. This is
Rhonda Reeds reporting for
The Good Newspaper.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Written by Brenda Meier-Hans
11.12.2014
Sponsor Mystic Rose
The Good Newspaper
1st
Verse 1
His coat is torn his
shoes are thin
The cold cuts deep beneath his
skin
Little boy coughs small
hands that shake
Winter's breath is much to hard
To hard to take.
Verse 2
Sidewalk echoes silent
prayers
People pass but no one
cares
Cardboard kingdom borrowed
time
Every step is a mount-
Mountain climbed.
Chorus
And the city turns
away
Like they never ever knew his
name
Still he holds his boy so
close
Chorus 1st Ending
Runs through streets to bring him
home. (1x repeat back to beginning of chorus)
Chorus 2nd Ending
Whispers / "Son, we're going
home."
Verse 3
Once had a home once had a
plan
Once held hope in calloused
hands
But fate’s a thief it moves much too
fast
Dreams dissolve like breath on
Stained kissed glass.
Chorus
Bridge
And he sings a lullaby
so low
Soft as the falling falling
Angel snow
A father’s love is his sheltering
Wings of warmth
Even when the nights are
Broken broken and torn.
Verse 4
"Daddy I’m tired my chest feels
tight"
His voice is weak his skin much too
white
Stars above blur in his
sight
The world fades into endless
Endless cold night.
Partial Chorus
And the city turns
away
Like they never ever knew his
name
Still he lifts his boy so
close
Runs through streets…..to bring him
home.
Final Verse
He stumbles down an empty
street
The world is ice beneath his
feet
He kneels beside the frozen
City of stone
Whispers "Son… we’re finally
Finally home."
Chorus
Chorus 2nd Ending
Whispers / "Son
we're finally
home."
Outro
The snow drifts soft the
Sunday morning gray
No one stops and no one
Left to pray
Two souls lost in winter’s
hold
Together now, for-
ever and ever
In a City Frozen cold
Away to Vermont on a Dr's appointment. Coming back and riding the Ferry to New York my wife Judy and I decided to stop off at Panera Bread for lunch thru the Drive thru. I notice a man counting his few dollars by the drive thru. His long hair and beard caught my attention.
His face looked sunburned, and he looked withered and dry. Sadly I noticed that
his tan pants had a large brown streak down his rear side. Looking at this broke my heart.
As I went thru the drive thru I ordered an extra sandwich, a lemonade and chips. My wife looked at me not knowing my thoughts and said ,"Michael your hungry today."
As I came around after picking the food, I looked for that man. He had disappeared. I drove around on a mission to find him. At last, I saw him, he
had gone into the restaurant. I parked the car and told my wife what my plans were. She was surprised and was very supportive.
I walked through the door and introduced myself to him. I said I have
something for you. He looked up smiling and said, "God bless you." I said, "God bless you." I asked him where he was from and he said, " Willow Alaska." He shared with me he was looking for his parents in Upstate NY. He said he suffered
from mental illness and that he was a minister. While talking to this stranger I felt an incredible love resonating through him, it is hard to explain.
I said good bye my friend and felt guilty because I wanted to do more for him. His name was Robbie.
I shared the story with my wife and my brother Gus and they said that God puts angels in this world and Robbie might be an angel you cared for.
There is not a better feeling than helping someone in need.
I made a new friend today, a homeless man named Robbie.
I encourage everyone to reach out to those less fortunate and make a difference in their lives. Even saying hello, or asking them how they are doing. So many people are silently suffering, and any act of kindness will help them cope better. God bless those of you that do...
Michael Tor
6/12 2023
A homeless man I saw one autumn night.
No blankets did he have as down fell snow.
A coat he wore. I watched him pull it tight
around his body. Colder it did grow.
The other homeless on the street were few.
I’m sure that to the shelters most had fled.
But then appeared as if out of the blue
a woman in whose sunken eyes lived dread.
Perhaps there were no shelters to be found
with extra beds that night. The woman laid
her body down upon the cold hard ground.
Beneath a store front’s awning she then stayed.
The man went to the woman. Off his back
he took his old worn coat. I could not hear
his words! But chivalry he did not lack.
She donned his coat before he’d disappear.
An angel of the night or a mere man?
Do angels shiver? As he passed me by,
I thought to give him coins, but then he ran.
To where? He vanished. I could only sigh.
July 16, 2021
For the 'Touch My Heart' Poetry Contest of Regina McIntosh
While the walls of houses make for a cage,
Hard sidewalk's bed seems to pacify rage.
Life's unbroken time has become his age,
While the walls of houses make for a cage.
Though visits are gone now to his lineage,
Somewhere a photo praises his homage.
While the walls of houses make for a cage,
Hard sidewalk's bed seems to pacify rage.
Walking on the streets out there
With the little baggage they own,
They walk everywhere
With no where to call home
They are homeless
Who struggles every day
For food and shelter
It's always a battle to pay
They beg for money
To buy food or hot drink
And it's really not funny
If you take time to think
So don't utter harsh words to them
Their future's looking dim.
His eyes looked worn and full
of a lonely lifeless existence. Lost
in his world, wandering through.
The heartfelt pains are the
heavy burdens he carries with him.
His body and feet aching from
the miles of foraging through the
cold dark mean, city streets.
The Holidays are hardest for
him as he remembers vaguely
his first Christmas with his parents.
For a moment that thought
brings a warm loving feeling,
engulfing his heart releasing a
tear.
He then sees a family through
a picture window as he slowly walks
by, listening to their joyful
expressions of festivity.
Remembering his and escaping to
avoid the pain of his thoughts of
his family.
His clothes are worn like his teeth.
Needing medical attention, he deals
with the physical pains along with
the mental ones, on his own.
He finally sits down, puts his
hands over his head and breaks
down crying uncontrollably. Releasing
his life's experiences all at once!
Relieving all of his hearts pains,
through tears. Finally giving up!!
Michael Tor 10/6/2015
Oh, please, drop something in my cup, a bill or batch of change,
to see me smile when I look up...my fear with hope exchange.
A homeless man surely I am, my fate did bad by me;
I am not here to cheat or scam, I have no family.
On me, this tattered coat, my home, will hug me to the end;
cast out by fate and all alone...this cup, my only friend.
Oh, please, just one coin in my cup, or maybe two or more,
in trembling hands that I hold up, my begging eyes implore.
You'll never know the intense pain of having hunger gnaw
or have to sleep out in the rain or barnyard on the straw.
To be looked at with such disgust by some who pass me by,
and know there's no one I can trust beneath this lonely sky.
Oh, please, drop something in my cup; assure my heart will beat;
to see my eyes, with hope, tear up...perhaps today I eat.
In past, my life was full of dreams, the path I could not find;
no one to guide me so it seems...to future, I was blind.
And so I live my days and deal with each one as it comes,
to walk the streets, to find a meal...until my life succumbs.
October 24, 2016
Premiere Contest: Panic At The Food Bank
Sponsor: Kai Michael Neumann
Form: Iambic Heptameter - 14 syllables, 7 feet per line
plus internal rhyme
While I stood in line
In a pastry shop
Ahead of me was a -
Homeless woman
She stared at the selection
Inside the showcase
Deciding her choice
We chatted in line
She said" Life is hard
to beg for some coins"
She bought a hot drink
Then a small snack
So before she left
I heard her voice
She called out to me
She wished me well
Smiled and went her
way
It seemed I made her day
She was pleased we spoke
I spoke to a homeless woman
Our day was special
To the both of us
Rusty Finds A Home!
Rust-hued kitty’s shunned by day, ignored through the night
Unloved and discarded in a world numb to his plight
As he meows by a door
Rusty meets family Tor
Who give him a home, protection and love glowing bright
—Robert Gorelick
Who could resist a kitty like Rusty
Who is lonely, scared and very dusty
Needing a safe home
Of his very own
And someone to adore him who’s trusty
—Beryl Edmunds
I have walked away from all I've known,
I have no place that I can call my home,
The earth was my bed last night hard and dry,
I know not the answers I question why.
People don't approach me when on the road,
The expression on my face bears true load,
Suffering loneliness the path I'm on,
But deep in my heart there still plays a song.
It's just like the ocean under the moon,
There cannot be joy in my life too soon,
Answer to no one, no one is my boss,
I have no comfort though that is my loss.
You may pass me by soon some sunny day,
If you do just leave me be on my way.
(Ten syllables per line)
I shall daily visit the beauty parlor
And make myself beautiful for you.
I shall never clean the house
So that my skin is not tarred.
I shall ever watch my figure,
Eating calorie less foods and drinks.
I shall stay home all day
And will never be stay at home mom
But will go for Disco at night.
I shall not take drugs
But a drink or two in limits.
I shall awake late in the morning
So that you are not disturbed.
I shall adorn the house to earn
Adjectives from the neighbours.
I shall buy the furniture to invent
Nouns to be told to the visitors.
Our house will be all pronouns
But will never admit verbs as
They shake the very foundation.
*** I wrote this poem much earlier noticing a young married woman of a modest family adopting the modern living going astray from the household chores *** Based on a real
person.
The poem was posted on 1/16/2007
========================
Dr. Ram Mehta
Tenth place win in:
Contest: Any Twisted Poem sponsored by Destroyer A Poet
What sort of homeless person would I be
Would I cart all these books everywhere with me
Would I scream and shout to keep the world at bay
Or would I nod and smile by my tin cup each day
Would I dress real well, try to look like a swell
Or would I let myself go, not put on a show
Would I turn to drugs or would I stick with booze
What would I have to lose
Would I rant and rave about equality
And how you look right through me
Or would I understand -
you need to keep what you’ve got
You don’t want to land in this spot
Would I have any hope, would there be any rope
Gone are the jobs that kept the unlucky on track
Now the squirrels are on crack, the humans on smack
The armpit of L.A. gets hairier by the day
Homeless...
Useless...
Shameless...
Nameless...
These are few names by which I'm known,
Though I would rather like to be called as Lazarus...
Regardless, let me tell you the truth --
I care less and fear less,
Far less than you, who make those nasty faces at me,
As if I would eat you...
Yet, I ain't heartless,
Sure homeless, but harmless.
Life has been harsh to me, but I ain't hopeless,
I fear God, who has not left me comfortless.
This faithful dog is by my side, all the time,
As are my fellow brothers,
who share with me my roof, the sky,
And my bed that keeps changing,
Nonetheless, I'm satisfied with what I have --
Nothing to lose and nothing to gain.
When I see you all walking about so worried,
I can't but smile,
And my fearless smile is sure to render you...
speechless...