‘It’s A Hard Knock Life’

‘It’s A Hard Knock Life’

I sell my body because I am hooked on drugs.
I can’t find a job and so I hang around with thugs.

I worked so hard and still couldn’t make ends meet.
I had no way to work and there are blisters on my feet.

There’s nothing in the freezer and even less in the fridge.
I’ll have to get a box and then I’ll try and find a bridge.

I keep hope alive, but tell me…what is the point?
I need to escape. Can you please pass the joint?

I’m not asking for your pity. I’m not asking you for shit!
I don’t have a job and no, I didn’t quit!

What am I to do? Just lie here and die?
You’d like that, I know. No one would question why.

My life don’t mean jack to you, so what are you looking at?
To you, I’m not human, but I bet you love your pet!

I am here and I am human and I have the will to live.
I choose to hold this sign, but you don’t have to give.

Tomorrow, you will pass me, but I will be right here.
I am your bogey man, you know, the one you fear.

Never for a moment think your life will stay the same.
We’re all in this together and right now, you’re in the game.

But when the bottom drops out and you get that pink slip,
I’ll spot you for some beer and me and you can take a sip.

If you forget where you came from, don’t think you can’t go back.
It’s called, “I need to speak with you because I’m giving you the sack!”

Written by,

Shelby I. Courtland

I wrote the above poem because I’ve seen this so many times, it is an epidemic. People who think that their job is safe from the chopping block soon find themselves among the outcasts of society. We have homeless tent cities here in America. America! Yes, you read correctly. I did not state that homeless tent cities were in Ethiopia, the Sudan, Haiti or the slums of Calcutta, but in America, go figure! The richest country on the planet has ‘tent cities’ that would make you think of refugee camps. If you look down on the homeless and blame them for their life choices, never thinking for a moment that shit happens through no fault of our own in many instances, remember this. Someone else could soon be looking down on you. Not one of us is immune, although many think they are!