Hostel (2007)

She lays on her bed, thinking of better days and times from her past;
When, she could afford to treat herself to finer foods or a night out on the town;
Instead of being dependent on the hostel for her daily food and nightly shelter;
A temporary measure until she can stand financially on her own feet again;
Right now, its a dream that seems, as far as the Earth is from the Moon.

Feeling like a stranger in a strange land, she uses the hostel for the first time;
Having always been living on her own since going away to university;
Seventeen years of independent living is gone overnight, in a blink of an eye;
Struggling to adjust to a new culture and lifestyle, which is totally alien to her previous life;
Even after a month in the hostel here, she still feels like a fish out of water.

Many of the hostel residents are harden survivors from living on the streets;
Where the only law, is to survive by any means possible at hand;
Whether, you begs, borrows or steals. And lying to everyone, including themselves;
Denying and burying part of their souls, which prevents you from surviving on the streets;
For no one else cares about another face in the crowd, asking for the basic needs of life.

Creating the ultimate disposable product for the disposable society, the poor and the homeless;
People, who by some twist of fate, are now dependent on others for their needs;
While, society has labelled these people, as being lazy and welfare rip-off artists;
Sadly, this view is totally out to lunch, for many of the people are trapped here;
Hasn't society learnt the lessons that Dickens wrote about in his novels? Sadly, it hasn't.


Therisa © 20o7


Author's notes: I wrote, this poem, after leaving the woman's homeless shelter, in 2007. Not exactly sure, of the day and month, I wrote it, but do know, it was between July 4 and November 8, 2007. As I have lost the original copy of this poem. And yes, my writing style has changed over the years.