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My name is Homeless

from DISPLACED​/​MISPLACED by Norman Nawrocki

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about

Housing is a right – for everyone. Affordable housing should be made available for all who need it, all the time, everywhere. The private property market will never meet all our needs. Build housing for people, not for profit.

lyrics

MY NAME IS HOMELESS

My name is Homeless
My history a fading memory
My destination unknown
My preoccupation:
to make myself inconspicuous
I wipe the shame off my face
I hide my hunger-wracked body
inside cast-off clothes
I shrink into a lump of quiet resignation and blend in
with the shadows
I stay out of sight of
those who find my living breathing
presence offensive
because when you see me face-to-face
you see the ugly side of poverty
and you see me as ugly
not my situation,
In the midst of plenty,
poverty is ugly and dirty,
it smells of all that’s rotten
in this world of inequality
so you walk by and ignore me
you don’t hear me calling –
for justice

My name is Homeless
My history a fading memory
My destination unknown
I represent shame and failure
and all your fears
because in this world of precarity
you might live on the edge yourself
you could lose your job, too
so you fear me, feel threatened by me but mostly feel ashamed
and try to shame me
telling me to get a job
but it’s not that easy,
and it gets harder all the time
To avoid looking at me
you jerk your nose toward the sky
turn your head at weird angles
or pretend I don’t exist
but I do,
so you demonize me
It’s not my choice to be on display
always in the public eye,
I can’t really hide or go home,
close the door, stay out of sight
So I bite my tongue raw to stop
myself from screaming out my name
but you walk by and ignore me
you don’t hear me calling –
for justice


My name is Homeless
My history a fading memory
My destination unknown
I live hard, I’m broken, worn down
ruined by enforced poverty
the death rattle an
ever-present soundtrack
my body tattooed by
the knives of the cold-hearted
You think it’s normal, acceptable
that I exist like this?
So many nights my bed is concrete
my pillow a brick
my covers cardboard, garbage bags &
the darkest rain clouds of indifference
My lullaby is
the howling wind of rejection
I’m invisible
Each day I die countless deaths
at your feet, unseen tragedies
because who cares
whether I’m alive or silent in the
merciful black ground
You walk by and ignore me
you never hear me calling –
for justice


My name is Homeless
My history: humiliation
for trying to survive
My destination: that deep hole
you’re always digging for me
in the shadow of your wealth
How you want me to disappear
‘Bury yourself’ you say
‘We choose to share nothing
not to house, feed or even take the time to dispose of you
You’re too poor to matter anyway’
So I slip into that pit
one haunted eye on all the others taking my place
Where will they sleep tonight?
In the glow of a new world that values
life over profit?
In your life sucking nightmare?
Or on a pile of gasoline cans
surrounding your palaces
ready to light the match –
for justice?

credits

from DISPLACED​/​MISPLACED, track released February 14, 2017
Words, vocals & violin: Norman Nawrocki. Music (piano & drums): Matthew Justin.

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Norman Nawrocki Montreal, Québec

Norman Nawrocki is a Canadian Polish/Ukrainian violinist & composer based in Montreal, Quebec. A veteran of the city’s underground music scene & also tours internationally. Since 1986, he's released 33 albums (solo & with his many bands like Rhythm Activism, DaZoque!, Bakunin’s Bum, SANN, Wild Plains, Crocodile!) & has 35 compilations. He's also an author & a playwright. ... more

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