Homeless in the Mist (photo by Jinn Bug)

NEIGHBORS

The junkies in my neighborhood
have names, these young men
who gently haunt our streets,
our woods, who sit on my stoop
and talk about their favorite books,
who hobo-style scratch softly
at the door asking for a bite to eat.

It’s true I know the names of a few
of these lost boys in this shabby town
poised at the edge of gentrification
and true I keep a handy bit of cash
and I suspect you would not like to hear
me say, “Get some food first and then
get what you need with my blessing.”

It’s also true that there
but for grace go I,
you know.

The junkies in your neighborhood
have names too. Perhaps you say
you choose to live where there are
no junkies and I reply perhaps they
are all around you, behind doors
in your safe suburb, having not yet
spectacularly lost everything

and become both visible and invisible,
shamed and nameless
all at once.

***

Bio
-Jinn Bug

is a poet, photographer, gardener, activist, visual artist and life-long dreamer. Her photography, vignettes, and poems have appeared in Appalachian Heritage, New Southerner, LEO Weekly, Fiolet & Wing—An Anthology of Domestic Fabulism, Aquillrelle, For Sale, Pure Uncut Candy, The Rooted Reader, Gyroscope Review, Necro Magazine and other print and online publications. Her most recent book of poetry is “Nights at the Museum”. Visit her at http://www.JinnBug.com.