five stood
Gregory Pond
hidden from news and social media eyes
five stood under sweatshirt hoods, cold and homeless
around a dying trashcan fire
that offered little warmth
in the growing dark when a crisp breeze
felt like a raging storm
gray shadows, back alley, castaways
who from a distance looked
like five sticks ripped
from a smoldering matchbook pyre
five stood under sweatshirt hoods, cold and homeless
around a dying trashcan fire
not lucky enough to have a nest
or a tent in which to stay
no cameras, no statements, no press
another desperate night
with only a fading light to illuminate
the faces of five hard-knock lives
five stood under sweatshirt hoods, cold and homeless
around a dying trashcan fire
there were no blogs or journalists
to record or document
their day to day of uneasy rest
human lives lost between the cracks
slipping into oblivion, then set back
they surrender to a fate
where poverty is a thousand pound weight
they must carry at all times
five stood under sweatshirt hoods, cold and homeless
around a dying trashcan firerarely are there any headlines about
the drugged, disheveled
depressed or insane
caught in a daily struggle
between God and the devil
and the devil usually wins
on most desperate days
black shadows, back alley, cast away
where there are no breaking news reports
about the daily plight of the marginalized
or the nightly hunger of the poor
four stood under sweatshirt hoods, cold and homeless
around the ashes of a trashcan fire
where one day more means one life less
when the last of the embers expire.
Gregory (Greg) Pond was born in Brooklyn to Panamanian parents, has written five books of poetry and is a member of the Revolutionary Poets Brigade. He is host of 3rd Saturday Poetry in Chinatown, facilitates Poetically Speaking, a weekly conference-call program for seniors and has curated events for Queer Rebels. He has read at the World Aids Day commemoration and currently resides in San Francisco.
