my friends were
enjoying some ramen
though it could have been spicier
I told them l saw a man
squatting at the Drumm St curb
in a neat dark navy suit
eating some dry ramen noodles
opening the little flavor packets
to sprinkle over them
on the table of his parked suitcase
as he chanted something that
didn’t sound quite Chinese
who knows from what steppes
in his very neat dark suit
he came to eat dry ramen with
such lugubrious delight
— Sarah Menefee
San Francisco poet and organizer Sarah Menefee is a long-time homeless rights activist. She is the Homeless Desk on the People’s Tribune Editorial Board, and a founding member of such organizations as the San Francisco Union of the Homeless, Homes Not Jails and 'First they came for the homeless’. Known for her poetry about the streets, her latest collections are Winter Rose, Sign and Holy Eel.
