(You know those “horrible homeless” you’ve been feeling better-than?
The final eviction moratorium ends tomorrow.
Emergency unemployment payments ended this month too.
No new stimulus checks are immediately forthcoming.
Evictions take about two months to process.
At the end of that time, an enormous wave of you “respectable” folk will be joining those of us already wandering bewildered in the streets of our nation.
Maybe you should practice a little.
Tomorrow morning, for instance.
Get the general hang of being afraid, in deep physical and emotional pain — and despised by your fellow human being.
Here’s how that’s done.)
*****
i’d like you to do
all the things you do
every morning
stagger up
clean your
eyes ears
nose
teeth
fix your hair
clean/cut your nails
shave
bathe
dress
get ready for a day
in which people
will not look down on you
but i want you to do it all
without any mirror larger
than the palm of your hand
without electricity
using only what you carried
(along with food,
water,
and absolutely anything else
you might have needed to use)
all day long yesterday
and
with
an audience
of appreciative individuals
who gave up on “respectability”
a long time ago
but are watching to see
if you might have anything
they’d like to steal
the moment you must
as must we all
eventually
fall
asleep
*****
The poet/editor of this website is physically disabled, and lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level. Contributions may be made at:https://www.gofundme.com/are-you-a-patron-of-the-arts
