We The Unencumbered

Tattered misfits, we are called, We ask not hate nor love; Survival is our handbook Stitched with suspicion's glove. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless rove... Nomads of an affluent age, Life viewed from simple stance; Lacking wage or praise of skill We use what comes of chance. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless stand... Exiled by necessity, We accept what has to be. Yet beats a heart within us That bleeds as others bleed. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless need... Pride we own, as fierce as yours, And devotion to a creed: The lux'ry of simplicity Is what we ask and need. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless plead... That we your discards salvage, For which you have no use, Condemns us not as outright thieves, Nor do we all abuse. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless choose... Not to offend your conscience Do we offend your eyes, Or creep beneath your city life, Or sleep beneath your skies. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless bide... Dim beneath your high-rise flats; Your costly tenements, Where order and disorder meet In churlish arguments, ....We the unencumbered - ........ We the homeless tent... Relieved of rent or power bill, No cable TV fee; Allotted to the crumbs that fall, We joy in what is free. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless spree... Drop-outs from affluency, Who own naught but ourselves; Senses dulled for want of tears, Numb for want of cause. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless pause... Against the angry indigo In the profile of a storm, Amid our cardboard shanties Where newsprint keeps us warm ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless scorn... Palates trained in preference, We forage as the beast. Over-ripe, rejected scraps Become the gleaner's feast. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless fast... Reclaimed costumes, dated, yet Suited to a timeless style; In beauty of sufficiency Resplendent for a while. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless smile... Deprived of aspirations, But to live as best we dare. Ambition is, as we have seen, But avarice of care. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless share... Poverty out-witted for - History's pages do attest - All humans are not fitted for Civ'lization's callousness. ....We the unencumbered - ........We the homeless rest.