Homeless in Montreal | Fringe Arts – The Link

Homeless in Montreal

Graphic Nanor Froundjian

    Homeless in the city
    bouncing from place to place
    doorway to doorway
    I am the friction in the wheels
    the broken cog in the machine
    The grinding I feel
    wearing down my skin
    my body’s resistance
    the flagging force within

    Helpless in the city
    as it closes its eyes
    this delusion is blind
    bureaucracy cold
    a woman on the sidewalk—alone
    When sleeping becomes a crime
    something to be fined
    disrupted with blinding lights
    and harsh male voices
    the state-sanctioned watchdogs
    of the night

    Homeless in the city
    Hopelessness I feel
    Confronted with big screens
    Billboards and shining things
    Promises and false dreams
    to keep us from seeing
    those who have no place to be
    listless and shifting

    Aggressive punk-coloured dreams
    or abusing our sexuality
    may be
    the only way to stay safe
    when the night reaches for me
    and the cold begins to seep
    into the fibres of my being

    Friends shun
    those who are economically done
    the social fabric atomized
    the illusion of smoothness
    is all that keeps
    us “happy” and in our place
    so we believe
    that the system has some safety
    when there is only harsh reality
    awaiting those who fall
    from capitalism’s “grace”

    Or for those who resist
    Or for those who commit
    to different ideals
    to higher truths
    than men could ever create.