Dear Mr.Bush,
You came to Cleveland this week to give a speech at the City Club to the Elite and Wellheeled. No GOP Dignataries arrived at the airport , or even introduced you at your Luncheon. You proceeded to drive the podium once again intoxicated with yourself. But you took a Intricate Route to your event so you would not have to see the Shredded Streets or the People of the Broken Hearted Inner City.You didn't take the time to see the Real People of Cleveland. The Real People were not standing with your handful of supporters. The Homeless and Disenfranchised of this City should not be blurred as you speed by in your motorcade. They have names and faces and stories. And your "Leadership" is killing them. In my mind they are not Invisible, they are Angels amoung us, teaching us what we need to Embrace and Remember, and hold dear as part of We the People.
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IRIS:
I live in the heart of Downtown Cleveland. My Son wanted Urban, he wanted Gritty, he wanted to live in the Old Section of the City. We have lived here almost a year it as comfortable as old shoes now. Yet there are parts of it that still tug at my heart. Last summer I decided that I wanted to make a documentary about the Homeless Here. Susposedly there are 10,000 that live in downtown Cleveland, and maybe as many as 3000 of that Downtown Number are Homeless. Last summer I met a fair number of Homeless because I walk my dog 5 times a day. ( Earlier I wrote a post about Robert a homeless VET). But over time I have realized not all of them want to be filmed, if I can get them to talk and make eye contact, it is a gift. Over time I take the time to learn their stories. Last summer I gave out Water and Sandwichs, and I know this summer I will do the same.
I met Iris last summer. I met her because she was taping her glasses together. She is Jamacian and in her 50's. She has training as a nursing assistant. She is a mother and a grandmother. She has been on the streets since last June. She left an abusive drinking husband, " Very bad Man". She talks about him quietly, and with such dignity. She had to leave, she said he would kill her if she stayed. I have hardly seen her during the winter. But I saw her about a week ago, as the crocuses appeared. She sits on a bench in front of the University in the evenings. We spoke and she admitted that she is going to take the bus and go find her sister in Florida.. ( Since I have been here I have ended up giving money to people to leave, take a Bus Somewhere, Anywhere.)
I asked her is she had a place to go at nights. " I go where I can be safe. One of these nights I may join the Angels".
She states it so factually, there is not emotion , no tears.
So Mr.Bush I have to ask, why should this fine woman be on the Streets? Why should she suffer? Do you care that she is one of the Grate People that might freeze to death? When you left downtown Cleveland did you see people staking out the Grates downtown with their blankets and bags?
METAL MEN:
Mr.Bush,Did you see the Metal Men with their grocery carts driving about the city, peeling copper plating and spouts off buildings? Did you see their clothes, rags held together with rope and duct tape? Did you see their raw hands and bloody knuckles. Do you understand the desperation that makes them search dumpsters for Metal ?
JAMES & DENISE:
The Night you came I saw James and Denise in Front of the closest Pizza parlor. I have given them money , when I have it.
I feel guilty getting my small pizza on Fridays in front of them. I always feel guilty getting such a luxorious item in front of them. So I give them some dollars and I always get them muffins and drinks if I see them on my way in to pick up the Pizza.
They have been together for a long time. Denise has MS, and James is a VET with PTSD. I give them some money, but I can't give them a Home, or Shelter, and I can't get them off the Street. And it tugs at my heart that my street is FULL of Empty Buildings and yet people are sleeping on benches and under bushes and on the Grates.
So Mr.Bush, do you have a conscience? Because you gave your delusional speech, but I know that you don't Know We The People.And I know that they are the Invisible and I worry that they are as Iris said Merely Angels Amoung us.
30 comments:
Left of Center redid my banner- go give him some Love-he is a genius....I will add links to the other posts I already wrote about Robert ( and homeless VETS) and also a post I did in December on the Metal Men. This is a more serious post, but I am tired of the President and his Crony friends lining their pockets and driving by .....
Okay Geek Friends- Now that the blog is fixed, NOW I have a new Problem- the little envleope that lets me Mail Posts to friends has dissappeared ? Anyone please I need help ? I did not change this and yet now I can't mail? it was here an hour ago- and now it is gone?
http://fockingscience.blogspot.com/
Enigma, here is the URL you asked for ... Anita
This post is INCREDIBLE! Enigma, you have a lot of love and I can tell you care a lot for these people.
I would love to hear more stories about them.
How easy it is for us to ignore that these are real people, just like us - they had jobs and homes, they have families. There but for the grace of God go all of us.
The evidence I suggest proves that W has no conscience is that he is able to sleep at night - and he shows no remorse, regret, or humanity related to the deaths he has authorized. QED.
Nice post E4E
Beautiful picture. The site looks good, too. As for the homeless - We have so many down here during the winter and I always wonder how they get here. Then in the summer, many are gone up North. I wonder if the Northern states pay the fare down and the Southern states pay the fare to go up again. We, too give whenever we can, but it's never enough.
The site looks great enigma,fantastic job. I enjoyed your post a lot of families in America are one paycheck from the streets.Instead of helping the administration is taking from programs that help the poor and disabled of this country,the only thing that will help is our vote to change the negative direction to which we are going.
Enigma: Please check out my post for today (3/23/06) about home ownership and homelessness under BushCo's rule. Now a N.E. Ohio personal story: When I transferred to Kent State from Ohio University, I became very good friends with a girl named Lisa. Her family lived in Euclid and I frequently went home with her to visit her parents and brothers. They were (and still are-- we exchange Christmas cards every yr to this day) amazing people. They welcomed this lily-white girl into their family as if I were their own daughter.
They were solid middle class people who always recognized that they were lucky to not be homeless or hungry. Along with their Baptist church, the weekend before Thanksgiving and the weekend before Christmas, we volunteered at the Cleveland Food Bank and distributed food. I'll never forget how many families with lil kids came to get food and how desperately some of them needed coats. It made me look at my parents, how I was raised, and my lot in life in a new light. Unless we are incredibly wealthy, we all are really lucky to keep our heads above water, and we all could be a paycheck or 2 away from disaster. Bush's disconnect from reality, his lack of a conscience and heart, and his complete disregard for American families allows him to happily go to sleep at 8pm every night... while plenty of people wonder if they'll make it thru to see another dawn.
yes, so many of us are only a couple of paychecks from homelessness, and remember society itself is only about three meals away from anarchy. you'd think our govt would have a vested interest in keeping that specter at bay. your stories are so heartbreaking and yet hopeful. somehow seeing that kind, wise, patient statue with her hand over her heart gives me hope. tell the truth, enigma, did you perhaps once pose for an art sculpture class & get to keep the best result of their efforts to capture you? D.K.
Thursday Mar23rd eve 9pm
Okay Lizzy emailed me and some others- and said it was not letting them leave messeges...so this is a test- I fooled with it AGAIN....let's see if it works....
We have homeless in our small town. Through the years you get to know them. They disapear in the winter but in the summer they come back. Mostly transients that go back and forth with the weather. We do the best we can for them. Some are afraid and won't reach out for help so you have to go to them. I look for them every spring........and it's coming soon, we hope. Bush won't see them. They are insignificant to him. Just as those in New Orleans were while he played golf.
Your blog looks nice!
very beautiful statement here enigma ... you are so cool
I loved this post dear woman..you are so good with words that paint pictures in my mind.
Bush didn't visit the hardest hit areas by Katrina either..so his visit to Cleveland and his circuitious route doesn't surprize me either.
he doesn't understand the poor. it is like a foreign language to him. he just thinks "well, why don't they just get a house?"
I'm sitting here crying after reading your post. This is America and yet we are told to be happy because schools are being painted in Iraq. The Gulf Coast is still a disaster, the number of homeless people all over America is a disaster and imagine what could have been done with the money that has been used to fight the war.
This administration traded America for Iraq and from my point of view they screwed up both countries.
Yeah, you're back.
Enigma,
great post. thank you. I am now inspired to write a poem about the invisible- the destitute- the homeless... I weep...
Your site looks wonderful, sweetie. I wish I could help with the technical stuff - but, Luddite that I am, it's like tackling Sanskrit. I just don't get it.
Your post was quite moving. I have been homeless, so I know how frightening it can be. It is much easier to deal with when you're young. I have to say it is my one great fear as I get older. Should, god forbid, something happen - how would I cope? I barely made it through at age 24. Bush doesn't understand. His family is patrician - generations of money. He has never done without. The plight of the have-nots does not move him as it does us. We acknowledge our vulnerability. He can barely spell the word.
You are a good woman, my dear.
thank you for this. no other words at the moment.
As always, your message hits Bush right between his beady little eyes....but you know what, as always, he didn't feel a thing.
I think Bill Moyers' speech "This is a Time for Heresy" says it all: "We were not supposed to be a country where the winners take all. The great progressive struggles in our history were waged to make sure ordinary citizens, not just the rich, share in the benefits of a free society." You ask good questions, enigma, what has happened to our country's soul? D.K.
To all visting the Enigma Cafe...thank you for all of heartfelt thoughtful comments...It renews my hope that indeed there are Good Souls in this Country, the King is indeed in the Minority. Please give some love to Left of Center ( the Banner Man) and also KVATCH,the talented Frog....For they saved and reconstructed my Template, and the beautiful new banner....and Lizzy thank you for sending me a copy of my Original Coffee Counter ( the Blogroll). So to Everyone: Gugon, Rick, Windspike, JP, Dada,Dk, Lizzy, Jenny, Dusty, and Stephen, Kat, Morning Matini Pat, Fat Lady Sings, Graeme,Rory,Within Reason, and Anita, and the Poetry Man, and Marie., and Tina..namaste....
**** PLEASE DO GO READ POETRYMAN-POETIC JUSTICE HE HAS AN INCREDIBLE POEM FOR THE HOMELESS, AND TINA'S POST AT FUZZY&BLUE ON 3-23 IS ALSO A TRIBUTE THAT TOUCHES THE HEART...read and blog on ...Have Hope America is awaking...
A Quick Messege I am a HUGE basketball fan-so I am indeed for the first time unencumbered enough to be totally absorbed, engrossed in MARCH MADNESS...and gee some of my longtime fav's even are going to be in the Sweet 16 ;-)
...anyways I just thought I should warn you- it might cause some distraction from Blogging....sorry.
Lots of homeless people in L.A. down on 5th St, around the Midnight Mission. I suspect it's like this everywhere in every American city. One guy has taken up residence on one of the bridges over the L.A. river and railroad yard at the edge of downtown. Another guy seems to have established a home near the sodapop machines at the entrance to Vons in Pasadena at the California Plaza. This is the richest country in the world and we have people without homes. Many of them mentally ill because our beloved President Reagan closed the mental hospitals with the promise of community mental health centers that were never built. But the bombers were built, and more nuclear weapons and tanks and guns. They were built.
Just one other thing. You write these heartfelt words to Bush? George W. Bush, who lives on another planet of privilege and money and power, and who breathes arrogance instead of air? You may as well be writing these words to the brick wall of your building, or to the chairs in your house. Bush doesn't care. The wall doesn't care. The chairs have no feeling or compassion. Bush is a coldhearted sonofabitch like the mother who raised him.
Hey there NEWSGUY....UCLA is in the thick of it and for the first time in 5 very long years I am laying in bed eating chips and spilling Dr.Pepper and watching basketball- this is indeed Bliss.Now about your Comments..hmm...Maybe we need to indeed Compile 1000 's of letters to the King that remains Heartless and Souless...Hmm, I actually think my beat up 2nd hand sofa does indeed have a soul...Certainly a Softer side...About Homeless I think they are Everywhere- I am actually worried the Numbers are much higher than I think...In Downtown Cleveland ,there are susposedly 10,000 actuall Urban Dwellers..if that is so
and 3000 are homeless( according to the Homeless Medical Clinic, than that means 3 in 10 are homeless- how many are elderly??? How many are children? How many are families ? ) We all need to know....And Sadly I will keep writing to the Heartless Pricks at the Whitehouse- OUR WHITEHOUSE.....
homelessness is not such a readily apparent problem here in the rural northeast...not to say they don't exist, but their numbers are in the tens or hundreds in what passes for "big cities", not the thousands or tens of thousands as in the real big cities in this country...there are still some social services available here which can handle those smaller numbers with a meal or a bed...but they are strapped from lack of funds and pressured by the cuts in the budgets for mental health facilities...a problem here is the displacement of local people who make their living from the sea...not only are they barred from fishing much of the time because of the depletion of the ocean's resources, or by the onset of red tides which close clamming flats for months in the summer, but their new, rich neighbors in their beautiful coastal mansions have succeeded in raising property values to the point where people who have lived there for several generations can't afford to stay...then these new neighbors start objecting to the storage of lobster traps and boats because it detracts from their property values...what was once a community of people who would do anything to help a neighbor in need has become a town of parochial factions who appear to have little or no concern for their less affluent neighbors, thereby creating a class of working poor who are one step away from homelessness...
it is the rich and arrogant everywhere who are destroying local communities with their insane pursuit of more riches, all for them, creating homelessness and a class of working poor in their wake, giving nothing back to the places they profess to love and eventually destroying all the things that made them want to live there in the first place...
maineiac's observation of arrogant McMansion's crowding out the colorful local real life, reminds me of a Charles Grodin story. While in England he took one of those royal tours of some old aristocratic mansion. After many sarcasms he couldn't help making about all the ostentatiousness, the tour guide remarked "It would be so nice if you weren't here." !!! That's what all these wealthy people must think of the rest of us. They wish we were all invisible, so messy to have to deal with real life. Cold, heartless, bloodless bastards. D.K.
Maine Friend and DK , once again both of you have added your own fine Editorial Points to the post above. You both brought insight and clarity ....
and you are right They Wish we all were Invisible, and thank heavens that the Bloggers and Bloggetters ( the readers of the Blogs) won't let them forget....Ever.
Thanks Glenda...My son picked out the new profile...said she looked like a"tired hippie".,....hehe...
( and he said Venus would have been a hippie so how's that for irony....)
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