The first impression that I get

when I meet the homeless woman on the street

is this :

I don't live in the economic scene

that causes people to be laid off from their jobs

& forced

into homeless shelters of the City —

I don’t live in the town where people pass the day on crack & lay you right back where once a month the people get their checks & then the crack dealers swarm in with a wrecking ball on everyone’s lives —

& then I saw the look in her eyes —

I saw the look of the homeless woman and this is what her eyes said to me:

It's just a pitiful state to be in

at the dead end of your life —

if you’re a wife & pregnant

with a second child on the way —

& there's nowhere to stay

& there's nowhere to place your head

except to shuffle around

from room to room from bed to bed

in a city that stinks from alleys filled with garbage —

to be moved from place to place

in a concrete world that has no end no end

where everything's spinning out of control

& the easiest thing to do is to give up —

& the easiest thing to do is to give up let it take you out

& fall asleep —

I said fall asleep on your feet —

& let the system & the man & the city come along

& pull the puppet strings

& taking care of nothing but their own selves —

& you can do it standing by the bus stop

with the cold wind blowing through your clothes

& you can fall asleep on your feet —

‘Cause there's a deeper chill inside —

I said I looked into the eyes of a homeless woman & I saw a deeper chill I mean a chill inside —

‘cause whenever you get down & then you realize everything's spinning round & out of control & everyone's doing it to you & you don't have a chance & you don't have a say & you can't stand up you can't speak up ‘cause everyone shuts you up & slaps you down & guns you down & takes you to the Hot Place —

so it's easy really easy listen to the crack man fall asleep on your feet —

& when I looked into the eyes of a homeless woman I thought hey wait a minute! I know that feeling 'bout the world out of control —

& I've been standing on the corner with the world passing by & not having a chance & can't do a dance & can't wear the pants in the whole wide world —

& it's a feeling like quiet anger swelling up inside — it's a feeling like when I was caught in the middle of a traffic jam & I was locked in blocked in no where to go —

it's a feeling like I'm being trapped inside — it's a feeling like I want to bust on out & knowing I'd just end up getting hurt or worse off than I was before —

Hey! I know that feeling maybe that homeless woman with her baby by the bus stop — maybe she ain't so different from me —

maybe there's a common feeling being in the middle of a system & it's spinning on with no purpose & no meaning & no people & it seems like everything is out to lunch & we get caught in the money crunch & there's no chance & there's no dance & maybe this is what my encounter with the homeless woman brings to mind —

& that's why I like to spread a little feeling around in this poem about people coming from a deeper place called love —

& nothing that I do or say makes any difference in the long haul back against the wall —

so what if I'm another kind of person living in another part of town as long as I'm feeling for this person I mean really deep inside really so deep it hurts & I know it works —

Well I was standing on the corner waiting for a rainbow showing up —

wasn't no bus showing up ‘cause I couldn't pay the fare —

wasn’t no crack dealer showing up ‘cause I couldn't pay his price —

wasn’t no drunks showing up ‘cause I couldn’t buy a bottle —

wasn't no friends showing up because I didn't have them either —

& you know who it is that I'd like to show up?

You know who it is I'd like to see?

Ain't no cops & ain't no lollipops & ain't no carhops redtops —

Why it's ME I'd like to see showing standing on that corner telling that fellow a thing or two & it's ME I'd like to be telling that fellow about a deeper place inside called love —

& love makes the world happen & love makes it comes along —

ain't nothing in the city that can knock it down

& when love comes along

there ain't nothing that's jammed end to end —

& spread a little feeling around in this poem 'bout people coming from a deep place called love —

& I hear my friend objecting say it isn't so & I hear my friend saying this is what's happening & that is what's happening & I'm telling you that friend of mine is in for a surprise—

& one day one of those homeless kids will grow up & show up & show the whole human race what it's like to be together as a family—

That's why I like to spread a little feeling around in this poem about people coming from a deeper place called love—

A deeper place called love—