Articles, stories,
poems, statements, and such sharing first-person accounts and opinions do
not necessarily reflect BOSS's organizational views. We offer this site as
a forum to share all views, particularly those not generally heard in
mainstream outlets.
Poems and Stories graciously donated from our on-line
community.
Housing Right By
Bob Mills (Activist) - On any given night in the U.S., over 800,000
people are homeless. Between 2.5 and 3.5 million people will experience
homelessness sometime during the next year and 12 million, or 6.5% of the
population will experience homelessness at some point in their lives.
Susan's Eviction
Story - I
fought my criminal slumlord Surya Gupta for a
decade, always with the City of LA reassuring me the owner would go to
prison and it would be on TV and that they would help us.
Holy Departed by
James Bobb -
If I could end
world war,
keep good faith,
replenish the poor,
and keep God's words safe.
Hunger Blues -
An emotional poem from two King Estates Middle School (Oakland,
California) children that starts...Dancing
all alone, feeling nothing good -
It's been so long since I ate something good.
Below are numerous submissions from Roger Dean Kisner.
Roger lived on the streets for 14 years. He has written and has many
stories published about the people he met while there. Many of them were
intelligent and had kind hearts. Just no one to offer them a 'reasonable'
opportunity. Click on the titles below to read some of his stories or
visit his website at
http://www.rogerdeankiser.com.
America
- Once again, I had run away from the orphanage. This time for being
slapped across the face because I refused to drink my warm powdered milk.
Finding Waldo - Most
people coming to this part of town had already learned it was best not to
speak, to keep walking. As we rounded the last corner, I saw a man sitting
on the sidewalk with his back to the building.
Food For Thought - There was no doubt this man was homeless and in
need of a bath. He had not shaved for several months. His hair was
extremely greasy, as was his skin and beard, and his clothing would have
caught fire from the stench had someone lit a match.
"I'm a Good Girl" - I noticed
several of her teeth were missing. The ones that she had left were not far
from seeing a dentist's pliers. I motioned to the cook with my finger, and
asked him to prepare the young woman a hamburger, fries, and a coke. I was
quite shocked when she told me she could pay me for the meal.
Looking Up or Down - I
am not really sure what makes some people good and some people bad. Maybe
"bad" is not the correct terminology to use. Maybe the question is what
makes some people kind-hearted and others not so kind-hearted?
Mr. Lucky - Less than two weeks
before, I had undergone major surgery for cancer. The scar left by the
surgery extended from my breastbone almost to my legs.
Scottish Royality - I
was sixteen years old when I completed my Army basic training in November
of 1961. I was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and decided to take my
leave in Jacksonville, Florida, where I had been raised in a orphanage,
before being sent to Fort Wainwright, located in Fairbanks Alaska.
The Old Bag Lady - It was
not easy for a ten-year-old runaway boy to walk the dangerous streets of
Jacksonville, Florida, especially at night. Even at that young age, I
hated the Children's Home Society where I lived.
The Party - There was a time
when I used to walk from one side of Jacksonville to the other. One mile,
ten miles, maybe even twenty miles. Distance seemed to make no difference
to me when I was seven or eight years’ old. Many times I had just run away
from the Children's Home Society Orphanage; I would eat what I could find
in the dumpsters, and I would sleep in abandoned red brick buildings along
the St. John's River, on Riverside Avenue.
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