Invisible

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  • Philosophy
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  • Life

    Poem Commentary

    Hi folks, another Ferry poem. Written on the San Francisco Bay on the way to work. This is another true story. It is a sketch of my friend Steve who lives on the street in downtown Oakland. He usually shows up at the Starbucks at 8th and Broadway every day at 10 AM. I show up a few hours earlier (about 6:45 AM) and buy a coffee and pre-pay for Steve's Venti Hot Chocolate. Just the thing one needs after a night out in the cold... Steve is well read and articulate. We have spent many hours there at the Starbucks talking, or sometimes I just go pick him up for a drive around town. He loves music and never touches alcohol or drugs. It's just that he chooses not to be dulled by their "meds" and locked up in their mental hospitals. He only wants what we all want - to live free.

    Invisible

     He's really not invisible
    Though most refuse to see
    The homeless man they seem to think
    Is lacking dignity.

    They cannot get beyond the beard
    Nor look into his eyes.
    They cannot get beyond their fears
    Nor hope to realize

    This is a man, a living soul,
    A fact they must have missed,
    He doesn't need their sanction or
    Approval to exist.

    He was a child like all of us,
    His mother loved him too.
    Yet chemical imbalances
    In adolescence grew.

    Its not that he's a lesser man,
    Or fried his brain on dope.
    The State could take his freedom, but
    Could never take his hope.

    Through years of living on their meds,
    Or locked up in their cage,
    His hope was always to be free,
    Undrugged, till his old age.

    Would you or I be different?
    Would you or I agree
    To meekly walk into their trap,
    To ne'er again breathe free?

    So why would someone ever opt
    To sleep out on the street?
    Far better than a cage and drugs
    And living incomplete.

    Poem Comments

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    Len commented on Invisible

    12-21-2010

    This is a very reflective piece that grants an insite that so many people choose to ingore, because accepting his humanity mean that it is possible that you could one day be in his shoes. GREAT JOB!!!!!!
    Reply to Comment

    ginga commented on Invisible

    12-18-2010

    cookie, Your compassion for your friend here is admirable. There is much to learn from him. ginga
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    Teardrops commented on Invisible

    12-07-2010

    When we are different its bad according to mankind . My dad said you never judge anyone till you walk in there shoes . My kids were raised that way also .Be who you are and you will never be lost. And this gentleman and i would have a great talk on a park bench i feel . This poem was written by a man with true compassion and he will live on in his writings well done my friend Marie
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    Chaos128 commented on Invisible

    12-07-2010

    The public conscience (and consciousness) is a sensitive entity to have deal with. Is it not much more convenient if we shelter it from sights that can serve no purpose other than to upset it? I mean we have concern and caring on one side, inconvenience and perturbation on the other. It’s really a no-brainer, ain’t it? 10 bull’s-eyes
    Reply to Comment

    gmcookie

    12/07/2010

    Thank you my friend... I always appreciate your perspective....

    Paolo commented on Invisible

    12-07-2010

    As a person who works for social justice and in harm reduction efforts, I more than get this work. I like most the dignity you treat the subject, the understanding is on the mark. Ordinarily one might think a poem with this weight would not have a rhyme but in this work it sharpens one's focus. Thank you.
    Reply to Comment

    gmcookie

    12/07/2010

    Thank You Paolo. To tell the truth I'm not quite happy with this one yet. It needs some "smoothing out". But I think the message is an important one. This is especially true as we celebrate the holidays. We have much to be thankful, for don't we?

    Paolo

    12/07/2010

    Of course you will no doubt edit and smooth, that is your way, and mine I fear. I trust your editing sense and will keep up with your changes.

    To have great poets there must be great audiences too.

    Walt Whitman, American Poet (1819-1892)

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