I heard my name called on noisy Market St
it was a woman I know from Occupy days
who used to play drums
in a lot of the protest marches
with a brass band called
‘Liberation Orchestra’
I hardly recognized her!
though there were those long red dreads
and the gold nose ring I remembered
she’s still a tall pale beauty but oh!
as we started talking
tears flowed from her eyes
she had been evicted over and over
on both sides of the Bay
and is now in San Francisco
living in a fleabag hotel
with no bathroom or kitchen
her daughter grown and on her own
but both traumatized
by what they’ve been through
and her fourteen year-old little dog
sick from the cockroach dander
and the shit and fentanyl on the streets
and she has to go into ER
and be mistreated there
to get the meds she needs
and that’s what I heard about today
now that International Women’s Day is over
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.
