THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE NO HOME

by Lorri Jackson

Be sure to have enough

friends w/ spare sofas

wake up, quietly put on

the same T-shirt

worn 7 days consecutively

and smellin quite like you

creep out into the mornin

the bones in the bottom

of yer feet and knees

are still achin

from walkin the day before

so head to yer fave diner

where a bowl of soup is less

than a dollar

drink 7 cups of coffee

and the mornin is spent

pick up yer bags

and walk slowly

no sense in hurryin now

sit on a bus bench for a while

and talk a long time

about jesus to the woman

next to you

or the black man in the alley

who says he used to play percussion

with the rollin stones

drink beer on a park bench

if someone else buys it

go back to the diner for more coffee

yer calves ache

and yer knees ache

and the small of yer back aches

and yer belly aches

and yer lungs ache

and yer arms ache

and yer heart aches

ride the train to the end

of the line a couple of times

and if you have the money

see a double B feature

and if it’s rainin

read a book in the library

it’s evenin now

and too cold to sleep in the park

go to a bar

and try to meet a nice man

make sure it’s dark enough

he can’t tell how shabby yer clothes are

maybe he has his own apartment

and a well stocked refrigerator

and he doesn’t have a girlfriend

a sweetheart, a wife

show him yer dimples

even if it hurts

the scars on yer heart

and the bottom of yer feet

when the sun comes up

put on yesterday’s T-shirt

worn 8 days consecutively

yer crusty socks and stuffed boots

creep out into the mornin

the bones in the bottom

of yer feet are still achin

a cupa soup is less

than a dollar

write a letter to yer grandma

while yer waitin for the bus

you never get on

tell her yer fine

and not to worry

but don’t tell her the worst part

of livin day to day

is not havin a place to cry in privacy

don’t tell her the greyhound urinals

suffice for now

don’t tell her the bones

in the bottom of yer feet

ache like you were a hundred years old

just tell yer grandma

yer doin fine

* * * * *

"Things To Do When You Have No Home" is from So What If It's True: From the Notebooks of Lorri Jackson, edited by RW Spryszak and published by Thrice Publishing 2017.

Lorri Jackson died in 1990 at the age of 28. She suffocated after injecting heroin. Some of her powerful work survives and tells her grimy truth without obvious complaint but with merciless accuracy.