with Shannon

I was a slave to my family
when I ran away
I felt free like a bird
I wanted to soar

at five years old
I chose that life
that’s when I found
my homelessness

I had love for these people
I met on the street
all I knew was how to survive
and help the others

I learned a lot of things
things I don’t want to talk about
things I’m not proud of
but that’s how it was

the street was home back then
but it broke a lot in me
I am broken
by my homelessness

my emotions and my life
are not the fault of others
but the homelessness inside me
is very, very deep

whoever hears these things
open your heart to see
what is needed
and what can be changed

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Poem mined by Rachel McAlpine from the pages of Te Ha Tangata: the breath of the people, a human library on homelessness. Editor Elspeth Tilley, published 2018 in Aotearoa New Zealand by Te Puaroha Compassion Soup Kitchen and Massey University School of English & Media Studies.
https://www.facebook.com/tehatangata/

photo by nate on Flickr cc by-nc-nd 2.0