A Poem on the life and death of homeless performer Jordan Neely, and the recent acquittal of his killer.
he cried out!
for Jordan Neely
he cried out as he
boarded the subway car
“I don’t have food
I don’t have drink!
I’m fed up!”
desperate homeless
young and Black
and threw his jacket down
in New York City
that Gotham town
here’s a picture of him doing
his Michael Jackson routine
to delight and entertain
on the streets and in the trains
(sun and rain)
young artist so full of life
and now he’s gone
lynched by
a vigilante’s chokehold
on the floor of the subway car
who’s now been let off free
by the system that set
the whole crime up
there’s no justice for
the criminals of hunger
from one that creates
homelessness and hunger
making its victims
the homeless and poor
into its scapegoats
*
maddened by neglect
he cried out of bottomless need
in a world that throws
endless riches at the feet
of the few already filthy rich
and steals from and starves
the rest of us
Justice for Jordan Neely!
No Justice No Peace!
– Sarah Menefee, People’s Tribune
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.
