Other Side of the Street

You pass us on the other side of the street.

Do you really see us?

From the other side of the street.

What do you see from the other side of the street?

The unwashed, the doped, the lazy.

The drunk, the beggar, the crazy.

What you never see is people.

On the other side of the street.

Your fear keeps you on the other side of the street.

If you could find the courage.

To cross from the other side of the street.

You would find,

The professor, the soldier, the chemist.

The nurse, shop owner, therapist.

People like you.

But no house, flat or country retreat.

As we live on the other side of the street.

Hi, my name is John and I created both the painting and the poem. The other side of the street is where I lived for nine years. I was lucky I received help from a homeless charity and I now have a place of my own. During the two years it took to get me back on my feet, I discovered art and poetry. This was the first poem I wrote. The painting is a visual representation of the poem. Both are intended to make you aware of how society isolates and ignores people, and even stigmatises them, just because they have no fixed abode. I know it is difficult to know what to do when confronted by an apparently homeless person. Just acknowledge they are people. The best way to help is to find a local homeless charity and help them help us. What we want is a hand up not a hand out. Hope you like my work. Will be posting more. Don't worry, will not be preaching too you all the time. However this was a big chunk and influence on my life, so it will crop up now and again.