The bite of the cold air hit me with a start, I reached to my Lucy to feel for her body heat - is she shivering?
I am disoriented, my muscles stiff and sore, there is no place to stretch my legs amid the clutter of car pedals and stuffed beneath the steering wheel. I can light a cigarette though but damn, now I have to open the window. More cold air rushes in. I pull the covers over my dog.
The action of parking the car, seated in the car seat to "slumberland" is seamless. There is no laying down, my head to a pillow, no snuggling close to Lucy with a warm blanket, there is only the doze in and out of conscientiousness, I restlessly rest.
Lucy, my dog (above) naps in our woodland shelter in a forest in North Carolina before we came to live Homeless in the Washington DC area.
Lucy and I step out into the late night to the diner, a parking bench out front takes our weight as a man passes carrying a bag and an old, course, moving-blanket. I smile and nod and offer a cigarette. He pauses for a match and I think, "It will be a cold hard night for you, my friend, not matter how you look at it."
The moon above is bright and it shines down upon these two. One, asleep to the ticking clock, the even breath, the soft, clean sheet, the consistency. And he with a worried brow for the winter coming close. The morning scents, warm coffee, a home made breakfast, the chill of the air hanging just outside the door where looking in, he awakens to Homelessness.
At FriendtotheHomeless.org, connect with Homeless People through their voices spoken in word, images, video, music, art, poetry and stories. With connection there can be compassion. And with compassion, a "fire in the belly" for change.
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