There’s More Than One Face of Homelessness

February 20, 2015 / Joshua Merchant

Do you know how homelessness looks? It’s often represented in the media with one stereotypical image. But here’s another face of homelessness.

Young poet Joshua Merchant brilliantly conveys a moment in the life of one of the estimated 1.6 million youth who face homelessness in the US each year. Get his perspective and challenge your perception of youth homelessness.

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A price tag is a lot prettier than an expired ticket. Bus passes expire. Today my outfit is wet as fuck, H&M skinny jeans, button up, Urban Outfitters sweater, beaded bracelet on one wrist, snap bracelet watch on the other, golden whistle necklace, liquor store beanie, and Guess leather boots.

I am walking from downtown Berkeley to a couch in East Oakland that does not belong to me. When I see him on the corner of Alcatraz and Telegraph, his blackened prints smudging his empty Burger King cup, I tell myself, “I am not one of you.” A price tag is all in me. A bus pass once had a destination. My legs are not as tired as they will be in an hour and 30 minutes. My legs refuse to mimic his shuffle. I’m a Cadillac painted gold, with no interior. Hoping my windows are tinted just enough.

“Hey young buck, you got a dollar for the bus?” “Not, don’t let the clothes fool you.” An old man’s face becomes a face of craps rolling snake eyes. You can hear him calling bullshit even in silence. I stop in my tracks, turn to him, and say, “Besides, how do I know you spend money wisely?” “How do I know you spend money wisely?”

Suddenly, we are both the same vehicle, me a shell painted gold, him stripped of enough parts to replace pride with survival. Shamelessly. Like an expired bus pass, a price tag is paper. Can whither when left with the elements and time to do what is only natural. They can both tumble weed the same. I pull out the dollar I was saving for my next gig. “Nah, it’s cool. How far are you walking?” “I’ve got a ways to go.” “Aye, stay up.”

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Joshua Merchant is a writer, activist and native of East Oakland. In 2011, he won the title of Youth Speaks champion and represented the Bay Area at Brave New Voices. Later that year, he became the Berkeley Slam’s youngest Individual World Poetry Slam representative. He represented for the Golden State Slam’s first venues in the 2012 National Poetry Slam. Joshua is currently preparing his debut book to be published by Youth Speaks’ First Word Press this year. You can follow him on Twitter @oakland_weirdo.