My name is not useless, lazy or good for nothing

Do not mistake my needing a hand up as a hand out

For I am not a stereotype to be used to excuse your apathy

Expressed as hate mongering to waste my energy

I’ve got better things to do with time

 

I will not censor myself when truth is an uncomfortable reality

Nor will I placate your willingness to maintain

Egregious policies aimed at those you used to obtain

Obscene wealth

You cannot criminalize, demoralize and abuse

That which cannot be taken from us because

Love is not a crime

 

Do not fill my ears with the tinny sound of false hope

Since it is nothing more than static noise

Filling up empties pretending to be something

While nothing keeps adding up

 

My life is not a card board sign

Begging for compassion on street corners

And my life is not a side show to be ignored

Once the light turns green

 

Forgive my brothers and sisters sleeping

On sidewalks, benches and beneath your bridges

They never meant to be eyesores

To your conscientious upbringing

 

Forgive my elders for aging

And needing more than a fixed income

Can actually pay for

I suppose to some

A cardboard box beneath blackberries

Is something to be thankful for

 

Forgive the children of poor families

Not knowing what they live for

Mom and dad can’t find jobs so

They find shelter in their car

If they have one

 

Do more than pray for young people

Caught in the asphalt trap

Parental neglect abandoned them

To playgrounds without safety nets

Every day is the same tiring game

Of making it to the next

 

I will show you my footsteps

So you will see where I have been

The road will not be pretty but I guarantee this

Once you take the journey

You will never be the same

 

It’s because of that I know

My name is not hopeless