StreetViews,The Magazine



August 2005

Click here for Table of Contents
A publication of
The Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless
907 Logan Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82001-5247
307-634-8499
fax: 307-634-9089
© 2005
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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The Faces Of The Homeless
Tiffani Pontchartrain

A gnarled old man, leaning on his cane,
In the park he lives and will remain.
His cart filled with odds and ends galore,
They won't even let him in the door
To wash all his clothes and get a meal
Because they're afraid that he will steal;
They will send him back to jail to live
Why can't these people learn to forgive?

A young woman, carrying a child,
Screaming in anger and acting wild;
The home threw her out for using crack.
ODSP is giving her flak
And telling her they'll call Children's Aid.
By society, she's being flayed
For being addicted to a drug.
We stick noses in the air and shrug.

A young couple, looking for a home;
Out on the streets, they are forced to roam.
Two tiny infants in a stroller;
Hear the sound of the asphalt roller
As it levels the road at their side.
The babies scream, their eyes opened wide,
As the noise assaults them, all around.
It appears to be a wall of sound.

Lonely woman, sitting on a bench;
Her life has dealt her a nasty wrench:
She lost her husband just yesterday;
There are no words left for her to say.
She sits in silent contemplation
Of her sudden sad situation,
That casts on her a shadow of fear:
How will she survive, now he's not here?

A lovely woman, quite elegant,
Sits on the steps of a tenement
Hollowed out by a fire just turned cold;
Suddenly, she feels quite grey and old.
She used to live in that burned-out shell;
Inside and outside, she knew it well.
With many others, she seeks the light:
She knows not where she will sleep tonight.

A sweet, kind man, gentle as a lamb,
Knows the housing system is a sham:
He's been on a list for fifteen years.
Now he sheds those soft and silent tears
For a home that he has never known,
For knowing that he is not alone
In his search for somewhere to abide
Across this country so great and wide.

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What Does It Mean To be Homeless?
Tiffani Pontchartrain

What does it mean to be homeless?
I have no place to call my home.

What does it mean to be homeless?
Upon these streets, always I'll roam.

What does it mean to be homeless?
I sleep on a lonely street grate.

What does it mean to be homeless?
I'm bound by cruel twists of fate.

What does it mean to be homeless?
I wander 'round, from place to place.

What does it mean to be homeless?
I am lost, another disgrace.

What does it mean to be homeless?
There are few people I call friend.

What does it mean to be homeless?
When will my lonely journey end?

What does it mean to be homeless?
I must depend on gifts from you.

What does it mean to be homeless?
I sit here, 'neath skies gray or blue.

What does it mean to be homeless?
I know not what is peace or love.

What does it mean to be homeless?
Soon I'll join the angels above.

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SOME PEOPLE
Georgiana Montgomery

Some people get in my face.
Some people take up my space.
They don't even care even if I have a place.
I say to myself, "what a rat race."
Pushing and shoving.
Everyone in a hurry.
It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round.
Some people are very profound.

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Poetry by David S. Pointer

Supplies

The warehouse
supervisor
ordered 40
video monitoring
cameras, 30
new pallets,
10 rolls of
shrink wrap,
5 boxes of
toilet paper,
and 2 temporary
employees
from the
homeless shelter
around the
cold corner.

**********

Dutch
Digs into
an issue

The documentary
spokesperson
said Ronald Reagan
hitchhiked two weeks
during the Great
Depression before
Taking his bad grades
Into a radio station,
Then to Hollywood
For some super jobs,
And 50 years later
Would spin homelessness
Down making it seem
All those cool hard case
Hobos were having
Rosemary, skewered-
Scalded-hotdogettes
From their dumpsters
Of choice while
Enjoying the finest
Alleyways of adventure
America had to offer.

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Art by Kildee Herring

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Drawing by Yasmine Zouhby

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Drawing by Melissa Westphal

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Buffalo Art by Earl Janack
Click here for more of Earl's Art

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StreetViews, the Magazine is published by the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless
907 Logan Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82001-5247
phone: 307-634-8499
fax: 307-634-9089
email: wch@vcn.com
Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless, its staff or board.
Editor for this issue: Virginia Sellner.
Copyrights revert back to the author upon publication.
WCH is a 501(c)(3) all volunteer non-profit agency depending upon the community for funding.
© 2005.
Articles from other papers are published with permission of the paper listed with the article.
**In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.**

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