A silent night, a lonely night,
no reindeer on the roof.
A winter moon, my eyes behold,
to my homelessness, you are aloof.
No stranger to a manger,
not a hotel bed for me.
They say that Christ was born,
in this same pitiful state was He.
We have so much in common,
just a star to guide the way.
Where are the promised Wise Men
who at my feet, their gifts, should lay?
A pair of socks and toiletries
are all the gifts I need.
For I cannot expect a roof,
since the bank did take my deed.
No hot drink to keep me warm,
a bottle of beer must do.
I can’t help but hate this holiday
because next year, this will be you.
Open your gifts and smile.
At that smartphone, you will stare.
It blinds you to reality
of the poverty, everywhere!
There are so many without hope
and no money to their name.
While your car is filled with gifts
yet your conscience knows no shame.
How can you not remember
whose birth we celebrate?
For just one day in one whole year,
and it still won’t resonate.
What we have done to those who lack
a home and food to eat,
is testament to the fact
that you’d leave Jesus on the street!
Written by,
Shelby I. Courtland
©2017 Shelby I. Courtland
shelbycourtland 
Shelby this is very moving. Thank you for writing this and thank you for sharing. Bless you,
Leslie
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Thank you, Leslie! When I first started blogging, I blogged extensively on homelessness because I know what it means to be homeless, not having any food, money; the whole nine yards and suddenly the inspiration for this one came to me from another blog and voila!
I hope to bring more awareness of the plight of the homeless to the forefront especially seeing as how they only get a little recognition during this so-called ‘season of giving’ and with so many social programs about to be cut thanks to the new ‘tax bill’ just approved by congress, I fear that more and more people will be joining the ranks of the homeless.
And so, I thank you again for your most thoughtful comment. And I hope that all is well with you and yours.
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Some of our family is pretty close to homeless at the moment. We have to pull together to help them get through this.
Leslie
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I am truly sorry, Leslie and if it were within my power, there would be not one homeless soul, anywhere! But unfortunately, those who hold the purse strings are cold, callous and heartless since they believe that bombing people is far more important than making sure that a population of vulnerable people are housed and fed especially since they rendered them homeless and hungry and destitute by making the poor continuously enrich the rich. I don’t know what it will take to get through to us. I don’t know if anything can.
But it is good to know that there are still families out there who are willing to lend a hand to others in need. You’ll all be surely blessed for having a heart and for caring!
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Shelby, my mother said, that would be many years ago, but it still stands, no one should be homeless or hungry and I agree with her.
Leslie
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Very moving, Shelby. One of your best.
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Thank you Dr. Bramhall especially since it was inspired by a post on your blog! And so it is I who must thank you for bringing out the ‘humanity’ in me as opposed to my everlasting rage at the system. Sometimes, I need to post such as this.
Bless you Dr. Bramhall and I hope that this season and every year, finds you and your family in good health!
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Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comments, Shelby. I think both are needed – both your humanity and your rage. It’s my genuine belief that this kind of rage will be essential if were are to bring about any kind of change to this nightmarish system.
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fantastic
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That one word says it all, Kelley! Thank you!
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That was really moving and speaks to the distractions placed before us to avoid the hard questions. I wonder often how we came to this with three people in our nation holding 50% of all its wealth. I do believe we have been hypnotized with advertising to get more and more, eat more and more, use every penny of money you earn and save nothing. When you have yours, protect it from those who have not. (AKA Trickle down economy). What do you do when you pass someone? I have someone like that in my family and it isn’t safe to take him into my home. I think almost anyone if told what to do and when and how to do it would be willing to care and give aid. You are doing the job of conscience and consciousness raising with your work. That is one function of art so thank you.
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Thank you for your comment Lilly. There have been people like that in my family, who were on drugs and living out of crack houses. But with some assistance from social workers and others in the health care field, some can be helped at least into a home. There are designated people who act as ‘Representative Payees’ for people who cannot manage their money in order to keep a roof over their head.
The sad fact is that keeping people homeless is a public health crisis because recently there have been reports of a deadly hepatitis A outbreak in California and in other states among the homeless populace. California actually declared a state of emergency over this crisis.
I was homeless because my apartment building burned to the ground and I could get little help from the Red Cross. I had to resort to getting on the evening news to get help. And I had been fleeing an abusive husband and so was left with nothing but the clothes on my back. I speak from experience and there are many more out there who are there through no fault of their own and just need a hand up in a time of need.
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Very good! And accurate. You are right they are hypocrites to the tenth degree. And they would leave Jesus in the street.
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They most certainly would, while passing by him with their SUVs loaded with gifts for those who are not in need and who are just merely in a constant state of excessive greediness. I am so very glad that I gave up the concept that Christmas is ALL about buying, buying and buying and then expecting someone to drop a boatload of expensive doodads in my lap, decades ago. I am expected to exchange hundreds and even thousands of dollars worth of materialistic junk made in overseas sweatshops so that I can in return, get the same? I don’t think so! What is it all for? Because all we are doing is enabling corporations to write big, fat checks to their CEOs and to their shareholders while we indebt ourselves to pieces for the same shit we bought last year. We just want it new. And we don’t even think about the poor schmuck who has to break his/her neck to get it delivered to us or they’ll lose their job. I had read somewhere that Amazon’s delivery personnel cannot take restroom breaks or meal breaks because that would put them behind schedule and so they are urinating in containers inside the delivery truck.
Another sad fact is that unless ‘Jesus comes back’ rich, He’s in for it. Because if He has the nerve to come back poor and homeless, He’ll be locked up for being a vagrant and left to rot inside a FOR PROFIT PRISON. And we’d better not feed Him or we’ll get a citation and have to pay a fine for doing so. These worthless hypocrites are beyond the end of enough! But we are celebrating the Christ child’s birth? Really? Since when?
Blackempowerment1, I sincerely thank you for your comment.
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Shelby you are so right. I stopped celebrating Christmas in 2004 and it has been a relief to say the least. All the financial and emotional stress that it can put on a black family that already has enough stress on them. Consider yourself one of the 5 % wise for not celebrating Christmas. I truly consider it an act of Black Self Respect. Thank you for your prophetic words of wisdom. Peace to you and your family!!!
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Right back atcha! I hope this message finds you and yours, doing well.
I am so glad to know that I am not all by my lonesome out in left field somewhere not celebrating this hypocritical shit. I was hoping that there were other likeminded souls who had not become a victim of ‘mass hypnosis syndrome’
And Black people should have long since stop buying into this bullshit especially seeing as how many of us have to almost hock ourselves to pieces to get the materialistic junk that we do manage to acquire. We are why PayDay Loan stores, Title Loan stores and rent-a-centers are in business. Ripping us off with their usury interest rates and of course, whitey white ass says that it’s all legit. But if we were doing it, we’d be in jail.
So, again, I thank you for not following in the footsteps of the brainwashed, hypnotized masses all the way to bankruptcy!
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I for one am so glad I dropped this holiday like a hot potato
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Good for you Nido! It’ll do your wallet some good, that’s for sure! And I really just don’t get it. We are to go out, each and every year only to buy the same things that were bought last year because why is it that if you look at the videos of fights that break out every single year, people are fighting over the same things they fought over in previous years? How many fucking TVs does one goddamn household need? What? They want to be brainwashed and hypnotized in every damn room of the house? It just makes no sense!
Nido, I thank you for your comment. And might I add, that it is truly good to see you. It’s been awhile. I hope everything is okay.
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