A Loss for Actions
I am ashamed that your dirty hands,
make me flinch.
I know you didn’t start this way.
Foaming at the mouth.
Mumbled words.
Your twitches formed with emotional breaks,
and physical beatings.
Exiled from a place
that was never really home.
Cardboard –
now your bed,
on this wet and lonely street.
Bringing more comfort
than a mother’s hands ever did.
You were wronged.
Mistreated.
Failed – time and again.
My heart sinks every time I walk by,
and see your broken shoes,
calloused feet.
I feel burdened by my full stomach.
I feel ashamed inside of my clean clothes.
So ashamed…
That I just walk by.
Tag:a loss for actions, ashamed, Blog, burdened, confustion, empty, grief, help, homeless, hungry, hurt, illness, jessica kristie, jessicakristie, journal, lonely, mistreated, poetry, poverty, sadness, support, write
26 Comments
mmm…yeah…i know this feeling i have a huge heart for the homeless…wish i could help more of them….nice textures
Thank you Brian. It is hard to see and hard to know what to do sometimes.
a powerful punch in the gut.
is it fear that makes us turn away?
Thank you Rene. I think it is fear and confusion. Never knowing that that person needs. Tough situation.
Well done, that feeling of shame for being better off than other…hard to understand all the in and outs of our humanity….thank you…bkm
Thank you bkm 🙂
Staggering sense of guilt. You capture both an honesty and tension in this piece. Great writing.
Thank you Dustus. 🙂
Poignant and revealing, Jess. And so true that, by so closely looking at others and what they have done with life (and life with them), we develop a greater understanding of ourselves. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s not a pretty picture. But it’s the truth as much as what you have rendered here. Thank you.
Thanks Joe. Homeless is a sad reality everywhere. More visually prevalent in big cities. Tough to see and really tough to know what is the right thing to do.
You are painfully honest in your writing.
“I feel burdened by my full stomach.
I feel ashamed inside of my clean clothes.
So ashamed…
That I just walk by.”
Powerful words here.
Thank you Lori! 🙂
yes caught between the tensions of the plight / and powerlessness to help ~ seems kind of apt hey Jess right now ~ Lib ~ @libithina
Thank you for reading sweetie. 😀
Thank you for writing what you see, and making me feel the same burden with your vividness.
Thank you Frelle. It is a heavy burden and I wish there was an easy answer. xoxox
Heart strings are pulled in many directions. Sincere thoughts.
Thank you Christine. 🙂
Dear Jessica
I could feel the pain and empathy in your words and its the case with all sensitive souls… like yours. Some times, its very hard to pass by such a sight. Our heart reaches out to touch and we do but we are not always able to…
? ????? ?
Om Shanti Om
May peace be… pray for People of Japan
________
http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/03/whispers-love-and-insignificance.html
Connect me at Twitter @VerseEveryDay
Aw, so true. It is frustrating to not know what the right thing to do is or what anyone can do really. Thank you for reading. 🙂
Yep, feeling the other’s pain, but knowing we can’t fix everything for everyone. So, we walk on by. Very well written.
Thank you Joanne. 🙂
I got goosebumps reading this, Jess.. cu that’s how I feel when I see and walk past some of the homeless I come across.. especially kids!! 🙁
This poem shows you how compassionate you are, my dear.. Cuz even feeling is something..
Very beautifully written, my dear.. very kind..
Thank you Kavita. I know so many of us feel that same burden. I appreciate your kind words. xoxoxo
Wow. I appreciate the honesty, intense guilt and compassion wrapped in every stanza. This is an issue I grapple with living in a town with a high rate of homelessness. I haven’t gotten used to it. I want to help. But there are so many ofthem and only one of me. I can relate to how the writer feels.
Thank you Belinda. I think it is something we will every get used to or even should for that matter. If we do then we lose our compassion. xoxoox