Compassionate Hearts

Poetry to Help the Homeless

   I’d like to invite you to read the posts of the gifted and big-hearted writers who entered the open call:  Write a Poem; Help the Homeless.  I have been privileged these past days to read some amazing poetry, much of it written from firsthand experience.

The top-rated poems below will be entered into a poetry contest benefiting The Bridge, a non-profit offering a variety of services to the homeless in our city.  My husband and I will pay the contest entry fees to enter the highest-rated poems (at least five, more if we can afford it).   

Now I’d like to invite the OS community to read and rate!  The writers are listed below in alphabetical order.  They have approached the topic of homelessness with compelling stories, powerful imagery, and compassionate hearts.   

1. 1_Irritated_Mother:  "Perspective"

2. adfeminem:  "Summer Afternoon, Brno" AND “On Spying My Homeless Uncle at Big Hole”

3.  bbd:  "on the free tram"

4.  bill s.:  "On Becoming Grey"

5.  Chicago Guy:  "Houseless.  Not Homeless."

6.  CoyoteOldStyle:  "Government Housing"

7. epriddy:  "Bridge Poem" and "On Bridge Haiku"

8.  From Leonde Delmare:  "But by Grace"

9.  Harry Homeless:  "Sometimes"

10.  Hells Bells:  "Space Within"

11.  jodikasten:  "The Off-Ramp" 

12.  Jon Henner:  "6 am"

13.  Just Cathy:  "Bridge Poem"

14.  mamamoore:  "For Angeline"

15.  Marcelleqb:  "Struggle Follows Independence"

16.  onecorgilover:  "A Prayer for the Lost and Forgotten"

17.  Scupper:  "A Single Step in Line"

18.  Tequila and Donuts:  "Bad Poetry for a Good Cause"

19.  Tom Cordle:  "Homeless Isn't What It Use To Be"

20.  Totzaon:  "Pay It Forward"

21. JRDOG:  "Red Lamp of Presence"

22.  jimgalt:  "Bridge Poem"

23.  Crystlle Medansky:  "Crumbs in a Soup"

24.  shae davis:  "Humans being human"