THE HOMELESS VET

You see me but you will never take the time to know me.

You view me as a problem.

I assure you I'm not.

I'm just a homeless vet that this nation's forgot.

I marched into gunfire for our freedom.

I did three tours to come back to a country that doesn't recognize me anymore.

I'd give my left arm if was still there for some MREs and to be out of this wheelchair.

Soup kitchen food ain’t doing it for me.

What's happened to my liberty?

People used to stop and salute me.

Now they just stare at my unshaven face and second hand clothes.

My future as a soldier was certain.

Kill or be killed.

I watched my friends get blown to bits before my eyes.

How is this justified?

Uncle Sam was all I knew.

I gave it all I had for the red, white and blue.

How can I possibly relate to you?

Even now I fight, but it's a different kind of war.

I fight so men like me aren't looked down upon so much anymore.

As long as I can speak or write with my one good arm, I have a voice.

I've made my choice.

As long as I have my mind, I'll keep fighting for the rights of my compatriots until I die.

By: Bonnie Lane

I Struggle

By: Bonnie Lane

I struggle day and night to end this plight.

It just isn’t right.

You see many of me.

But you never have known me.

I struggle to keep my patience 

while standing in line waiting for food,

                                                                                          Waiting for clothes,

                                                                                          Waiting for shelter,

                                                                                          Waiting for a home

While I wait…

Many are cold.

Many are old.

Some die.

I ask how is this justified.

I ask when will it end?

I ask who’s willing to help? To fight?

and while I wait for answers…

I struggle.

WHAT I WOULD GIVE?

WHAT I WOULD GIVE?

A HOMELESS PERSON'S PLEA

By BONNIE LANE

What I would give to have a home of my own
with a picket fence!
I am tired of sleeping on this park bench!
What I would give to be able to buy new clothes!
I am tired of these used rags
and shoes walking out of their soles!
What I would give to be treated like
everyone else!
Instead of laughed at or ignored
as a bum or a wreck!
I would give everything I am
just to have enough!
I am not greedy
I don't need it all
just to have enough to live comfortably.
What I would give not to eat my meals in a soup kitchen!
but to prepare my own feast!
What would I give for all these things?
I would give everything I am.
I am not greedy.
I don't need it all
Just enough to live comfortably.

WHAT I WOULD GIVE?

HOMELESS PERSON'S PLEA
By: Bonnie Lane


What I would give to have a home of my own
with a picket fence!
I am tired of sleeping on this park bench!
What I would give to be able to buy new clothes!
I am tired of these used rags
and shoes walking out of their soles!
What I would give to be treated like
everyone else!
Instead of laughed at or ignored
as a bum or a wreck!
I would give everything I am
just to have enough!
I am not greedy
I don't need it all
just to have enough to live comfortably.
What I would give not to eat my meals in a soup kitchen!
but to prepare my own feast!
What would I give for all these things?
I would give everything I am.
I am not greedy.
I don't need it all
Just enough to live comfortably.