Image by Avi Werde
We stand proud
With black armbands
Mourning the end
Of our community
No more "Bingo"
On the corner
Offering to take me
For coffee
With the money
He's panhandled
The pastor turns up her nose
"The people actually
defecated there,
on the sidewalk"
Like she'd never seen
s— in her life before
Churches and haters
Do-gooders and folks
just trying to live
the best they can
Hanging out
At the shake shack
on a cloudless afternoon
Hastings and Main
in sunlight
Until the condo towers move in
and throw shade.
Phoenix Winter lives in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, where she advocates for her homeless neighbors.