At a park in Northern California....

“Stop!” The badge insisted.
“Cease, or risk arrest.”
“You cannot feed the homeless
in this park without permit.”

“Your sandwiches may be unclean.
Your fruit is not inspected.
The soup you serve may cause disease,
coming from a private kitchen.”

The hungry formed a single line,
just as they had so many times.
The homeless, friendless,
lonely and sad.
The seeking and the know it alls
the broken, good and bad.

We welcomed all.
The lunch was free.
But our presence challenged
the manufactured portrait
of an antiseptic city.

“We don’t want the homeless here,
with downtown businesses so near.
Their presence goes against
the image we desire.”

“Stop now!” But we continued.
The line steadily passed by.
Many received the only meal
that they would have that day.

Finally, the line came to an end,
each one was served a meal.
The homeless and the hungry
had all received their fill.


End of part one...


A little note on the subject...

This was not an exaggeration at all. If anything, it is an understatement. A few friends and I fed the homeless in a city park where many of them hung out, spending their days. We had done so twice a week for about 2 years when this happened. On the day of the event, we were surrounded by several police, at least 20. The chief of police himself was also there but stood at a distance. I was the one approached and threatened with arrest because I was the one handing out the main part of the meal. I stalled by asking them several questions about the law etc…, while I continued to pass out the lunches. I was invited, if you want to call it that, to a meeting that took place later that afternoon to discuss the "problem" of the homeless being downtown. I was told that if I moved the location of our feeding away from the downtown area to a secluded park, that the city would not bother us. We did not need any of the permits that they asked for or inspections. The permits were simply an excuse to try to get us to stop. They tried to intimidate us. They simply did not want the homeless so close to the business district. I'm going to try to write about this part of the ordeal in part 2. It was simply unbelievable. We did not stop feeding the homeless in that park. I told the city officials that they would not be able to afford the law suit brought against the city if they insisted on stopping what we were doing. I also told them that I was willing to go to jail for what I believed and that they would get some wonderful publicity if they choose to arrest me...