no room
by Tommi Avicolli Mecca
© 2020
there’s suddenly no room
at the inn
the shelter in place hotels
no room for
2,400 homeless people
high risk seniors
sheltered for months
no room
not even a stable
only a vague promise
of permanent housing
that always ends
up broken like treaties
no room
for 2,400 homeless people
now housed
but soon to be back
out on the streets
in the dead of winter
during the rainy season
just before Xmas
in the midst of
a pandemic
no room
in far too many hearts
America is starving
by Tommi Avicolli Mecca
© 2020
America’s hungry
it’s always been hungry
it stands every day
bundled up against the cold
masked and socially
distanced in lines
as far as the eagle
can see
outside food banks
and soup kitchens
hands always extended
on the cold callous street
there’s little change
trickling into the cup
little compassion in the air
America’s food stamps
have been cut
there’s no relief check in the mail
unemployment’s running out
America’s always been hungry
these days
it’s starving
man on a bench
by Tommi Avicolli Mecca
© 2018
you were sitting at the other
end of the wooden bench
outside the café
I was waiting for a friend
checking my phone
every couple minutes
a small framed old man
with bruises on your cheeks
and forehead
you picked at a scab
as you commented on the weather
a man suddenly turned
the corner swinging his
bag at your face
then spit on you
calling you a "homeless
piece of shit"
I yelled at him
told him to leave you alone
he hurried across the street
through the heavy traffic
a waiter came out
told you to move on
I asked why
he said customers had
complained
you got up and left
so did I
