The Homeless One Poem by Jinge Norvall

The Homeless One



He shivers in the morning dew,
Blanket and shirt cast aside
Like the dawn shrugging off
The dark, lonely night.

Crouching in the dirt,
Talking to unseen people
As if surrounded by a throng
Of loved ones in his home.

He issues instructions -
Points which way to go;
Helping them to find their way
In a world we cannot see.

He eats from the garbage,
There's nowhere to wash;
He sleeps beneath the stars
On the cold, hard ground.

The cars drive past him;
Pedestrians look away.
They cannot be bothered
With the mad one today…

But what did Jesus tell us?
What was it that he said?
I was hungry and you gave me food…
Thirsty and you gave me drink.

- a stranger and you took me in;
Naked and you clothed me;
I was sick and you looked after me-
In prison and you came to me…

Help us to reach out, Lord;
To notice those in need;
If each of us helped one each day -
The world would see Your love.

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
This poem is about a vagrant that we passed on the way to school every weekday.. my daughter & I would give him a cooked meal on those frosty mornings when we saw him hunched over his fire, barely clothed. He disappeared one day.. perhaps he died.. we will never know.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Adeline Foster 06 December 2011

A real situation so vividly portrayed. Read mine - We the Unencumbered - Adeline

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Budlea Ní Mhaolfhábhail 27 November 2011

A very striking real poem, a picture painted of desolation and of the evident ignorance of those around who cannot sympathise or even stop to help... Thank you, Ruth

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