Tinker Posted May 23, 2011 Posted May 23, 2011 Tuesdays in the Church Parking Lot Cigarettes and paper cups half-full of steaming coffee warm chilled fingers while faded characters in frayed levis turn their backs to the street to avoid stares of passers-by and wait . . . . . Arms fill with brown paper bags bearing boxes of cereal, eggs, home-grown produce, rice and assorted cans then they vanish, only to return and wait. . . . on Tuesday morning. - Judi Van Gorder Quote ~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~ For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com
badger11 Posted May 23, 2011 Posted May 23, 2011 'hard times' are just around the corner, have already arrived for many, and time for the few time to share more than ever...instead policy is to make life harder so there isn't a 'culture of dependency' and waiting rather than doing...either way I like the unfussy writing badge Quote
Benjamin Posted May 24, 2011 Posted May 24, 2011 I like the uncomplicated way this states facts and then leaves the reader to make of the poem what he or she will. Basic social issues are at the fore-front of news items in many countries of late. Benjamin Quote
Aleksandra Posted May 26, 2011 Posted May 26, 2011 A brilliant poem, Tinker. I loved this one. The clear images are simply perfect. The tone is amazing. Great job with this poem, Tink. Aleksandra Quote The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth - Jean Cocteau History of Macedonia
tonyv Posted May 27, 2011 Posted May 27, 2011 I've heard this story before, Tink -- from someone I know who works at the local Catholic charity food kitchen. Yes, they show up once a week. By the time next Tuesday rolls around, they're out, or running low on things, and they return ... Tony Quote Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic
abstrect-christ Posted May 27, 2011 Posted May 27, 2011 everything's said ^-^ Quote Pinhead "Unbearable, isn't it? The suffering of strangers, the agony of friends. There is a secret song at the center of the world, Joey, and its sound is like razors through flesh." Joey "I don't believe you." Pinhead "Oh come, you can hear its faint echo right now. I'm here to turn up the volume. To press the stinking face of humanity into the dark blood of its own secret heart." "There's a starving beast inside my chestplaying with me until he's boredThen, slowly burying his tusks in my fleshcrawling his way out he rips open old woundsWhen I reach for the knife placed on the bedside tableits blade reflects my determined faceto plant it in my chestand carve a hole so deep it snaps my veinsHollow me out, I want to feel empty"-- "Being Able To Feel Nothing" by Oathbreakerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBPy3xNwwL8 "Sky turns to a deeper grey the sun fades by the moon hell's come from the distant hills tortures dreams of the doomed and they pray, yet they prey and they pray, still they prey"-- "Still They Prey" by Coughhttps://soundcloud.com/relapserecords/sets/cough-still-they-pray
Tinker Posted May 27, 2011 Author Posted May 27, 2011 Hi Badge, Geoff, Aleks, Tony, and AC, Thank you for reading this one. It is actually an old one, believe it or not written in "good times" before the crash. The poor have always been around. The town I live outside of ( only about 10 homes are actually in the town) is approximatetly 2 blocks long and 2 blocks deep and the 2 lane highway running thru the middle of town has a 4 way stop smack dab in the middle of town. The town boasts 2 churches, a mom & pop grocery store, a couple of art and antique shops and a couple of tourist attraction family style restuarants, that's about it. The catholic church with its community hall and food locker is set back from the main street with its parking lot in front of the buildings. This is where the Rural Food Program dispenses food on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. You have to drive by it to go anywhere and it is hard to ignore with a couple of hundred of families milling around waiting. Everyone knows everyone in this small community and there are sure to be neighbors and friends waiting there who prefer not to be recognized. It is run by all volunteers. Those of us with gardens often donate excess produce to the food locker, the government provides some dairy products and of course there is a regular collection in both churches to support the food program. If you need food all you have to do is show up. No other qualificaiton. It is front and center to our community life and has had an impact on all of us. ~~Tink Quote ~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~ For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com
dedalus Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 Here in Japan in our city we do it in the main station underground concourse on Friday and Saturday evenings. We get hundreds of people lining up, some of them ex-company employees thrown out of supposedly lifetime jobs. Japan?? Yeah, sure. The economy was down even before the March 11 earthquake. Now it's in a nosedive. The lines get longer. Commuters come scuttling by, pretending not to recognize the people they know in those lines. I was tempted to shake a few hands but my companions pushed me along, explaining that it would be a tremendous loss of face for the people concerned. I listened. Most of the time you take cultural advice. Now and then you don't ... those times when the outrage burns too hard. Who am I to pass comment on a foreign country? I'm a human being, that's who I am. I'd say the same thing in America ... probably LOUDER (they don't listen too good). Quote Drown your sorrows in drink, by all means, but the real sorrows can swim
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