(204)▪︎[ The Cold … 2026 ]

[ The Talk Of The Town, Today, Is The Freezing Cold ]
[ The Homeless, Are Always, Put On Hold ]
[ There Are So Many Tedious Things, That They Do Not Like, Being Told ]

[ Like, Being Shown A Better Way Of Doing Something, That Could Make Their Life, Somewhat Leisurely ]
[ When They Start Feeling Like They Are Being Told What To Do ]
[ They Do Not Take To Change, Very Easily ]

[ It Just Does Not Matter If They Can Or They Could ]
[ They Have Never Understood ]
[ The Big Difference Between Bad & Good ]

[ They Don’t Like Being Told What They Can Or Can’t Do ]
[ Following All Of The Rules & Laws ]
[ Does Not Usually Stumble You, You Or You ]

[ They Feel That All Of The Rules Are Too Much ]
[ They Do Not Want To Pay Bills Or Put Money Aside For Food ]
[ They Do Not Want To Do Such & Such ]

[ They Do Not Want To Worry About An “O” Ring Full Of Keys That Belong To Door Locks ]
[ Throwing All Of That Away ]
[ For The Privilege Of Only Needing To Be Responsible For A Sleeping Bag & A Cardboard Box ]

[ Begging For Money, So They Can Afford Their Alcohol &  Drugs ]

[ Giving Up The Ability To Give Hugs ]
[ Not Caring About Living & Sleeping With The Insects & Bugs ]

[ Homeless People Have Given Up Their Ability, To Dream ]
[ They Almost Tripled Their Chances, Of Having Night Terrors ]
[ That Causes Them, To Scream ]

[ So Loud, Inside Of Their Own Head ]
[ They Wished That The Alcohol Would Be Their Magical Med ]
[ Other Times Wishing That They Were Dead ]

[ So All Of The Pain Would Go Away ]
[ They Never Get A Reprieve For Even A Day ]
[ When They Do, It Doesn’t Stay ]
[ @ Bay ]

[ The Pain In Their Head Pounds To The Rhythm Of Their Pulse ]
[ When The Pain Becomes Tolerable ]
[ That Proves To Be False ]

[ Searching For The Thing That Makes Them Feel Happy & Right ]
[ Has Become A Fight ]
[ Every Day & Every Night ]

[ Sometimes Not Getting Any Sleep @ All ]
[ Getting To Be In A Comatose State ]
[ When They Finally Hit The Wall ]

[ (2), (3), Or (5) Days In A Row ]
[ When Does The Wall Come Into Play ]
[ They Won’t Know ]
[ Until It Gets To That Day ]

[ Be It The Bare Ground ]
[ Or A Park ]
[ It Does Not Make A Difference Who Is Around ]
[ It Does Matter If It Is Light Or Dark ]

[ Sometimes The Authorities Have To Check To See If A Homeless Person Is Still Alive ]
[ The Odds Are That (1) In (5) ]
[ Have Lost Their Desire To Thrive ]

[ It Seems Like Years Ago, They Fell Down The Slippery Slope ]
[ Of Losing Their Ability To Cope ]

[ When Facing Everything That Is Thrown @ Them, Head On ]
[ They Decided That The List Of Problems Is Too Long ]
[ When They Lay Their Heads Down @ Night ]
[ They Just Want The Pain To Be Gone ]

[ The Lucky Ones, Never Wake ]

~ Ka hopena ~

Mahalo nui loa
A hui hou kaua e kuu hoa

Na,
Lopaka DeVoe

~ Aloha ~

▪︎  ••  ••  ▪︎

(1347)▪︎[ I Was The One Rewarded … 11•28•2019 ]

[ I Just Had A Homeless Man Carrying What Seemed To
Be His Sole Possession, A Blanket, Come Up To Me &
Say (EXCUSE ME SIR, I KNOW I’m NOT SUPPOSED
TO ASK, BUT DO YOU HAVE A SPARE DOLLAR? } ]
[ He Looked @ Me Timid Like, Expecting Me To Holler ]

[ I Immediately Thought About How Polite He Was
Being @ The Time ]
[ So I Wanted To Give Him More Than Just A Dollar &
A Dime ]

[ I Pulled A Couple Of Dollars From The Pocket Of My
Shorts ]
[ Then When I Handed Them To Him ]
[ He Seemed All Out Of Sorts ]

[ I Guess, Because This Is How We Met ]
[ He Thought That I Would Get Upset ]

[ As He Was Slowly Walking Away ]
[ I Wondered (DO YOU THINK THAT HE HAD ANYTHING
TO EAT TODAY?) ]

[ I Followed Him Until I Caught Up With Him From
Behind ]
[ I Wanted To Hit REWIND ]
[ Because In My Mind ]

[ I Should Have Given Him More Than I Did ]
[ So When I Pulled A Different Bill Out ]
[ & Into His Hand It Slid ]
[ I Wanted To Shout ]
[ I Feel As Carefree As A Kid ]

[ He Looked @ The $20 Bill In His Hand ]
[ A Beaming Smile Covered His Face ]
[ Then It Went Away ]
[ As He Asked (ARE YOU SURE MAN?) ]

[ I Reassured Him That I Was Sure ]
[ Because My Intentions Were Altruistic & Pure ]

[ As I Walked Away ]
[ I Felt Like I Was The One That Was Rewarded Today ]

[ I Told The Stranger To Have A Meal On Me ]
[ So @ Least He Will Not Be ]
[ Cold & Hungry ]

[ He’s Already Set ]
[ With His Blanket ]

[ As He Walked Away, He Looked @ The Ground & Shook His Head ]
[ & It All Started When He Said ]

[ (EXCUSE ME SIR …) ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[  Mahalo E Ka hoa  ]
[  A hui hou  ]
[ Aloha  ]

[  Na  ]
[  Lopaka DeVoe  ]

||•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•||

(674)▪︎[ Not The Ideal Way To Live … 8•12•2021 ]

[ Do You Know What Friends Are For? ]
[ Are They There To Help You Up Off Of The Floor? ]

[ Maybe They Are There To Pat You On The Back ]
[ Or To Always Have Your (6) ]
[ Whenever You Might Be Under Attack ]

[ They Put Out Their Hand When You Need One ]
[ They Spend Time With You When Life Is Not All That Fun ]

[ Not Everyday, Is Filled With Fun & Games ]
[ A Friend Is Always There When You Start Kicking Ass &
     Taking Names ]

[ A Good Friend Also Brings Good Conversations ]
[ Talking About Any Subject Without Reservations ]

[ You Can Talk About Most Anything ]
[ & Honesty Is King ]

[ Honor & Trust ]
[ Is A Must ]

[ Helping Those Who Had Less Than Yourself ]
[ Giving Homeless People Food Off Of Your Own Shelf ]

[ Because One Detour Off Of Your Life’s Path Could Find
     Yourself There, Too ]
[ It Is What Could Be Done ]
[ Not Because Of What You Do ]

[ A Homeless Man Did Not Wish He Would Be One When He Was
     A Young Boy ]
[ Somewhere Along His Path, Something Happened That Took
     Away His Joy ]

[ Maybe What Changed His Life ]
[ Was When He Lost His Wife ]

[ That Could Be A Legitimate Reason ]
[ & Then He Had To Live Outside Where The Weather Was Freezing ]

[ Nobody Wants To Get In A Mess ]
[ That Will Cause Them To Be Homeless ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[  Mahalo  ]
[  A hui hou  ]
[ Aloha  ]

[  Na  ]
[  Lopaka DeVoe  ]

||•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•||

(521)▪︎[ It Cost Everything … 6•26•2021 ]

[ If You Were Asked ( WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN
     YOU GROW UP? ) What Would You Say? ]
[ Would It Be The Type Of Job That Drives You Or Would
     It Be The Pay? ]

[ Money Does Drive Some People’s Lives @ Times ]
[ Everyday They Only Push To Earn More Dimes ]

[ Grabbing All Of The Money Possible ]
[ Taking The Time To Stop To Smell The Flowers ]
[ Becomes Nearly Impossible ]

[ Some People Do Not Grow-Up By Choice ]
[ Some Lucky Few Have A Natural Singing Voice ]

[ Some Never Want To Grow Up ]
[ They Spend Their Nights Going From Club To Club ]

[ Some People Never Grow Up, But Have No Problem
     Mooching Off Of Their Parents ]
[ To Pay Their Bills & Rent ]

[ Those Are The One’s That Have No Drive Or Aspirations ]
[ Not One Person Is Their Inspiration ]

[ Those Would Be The Future Homeless Transients That
     Are Going To Be Sleeping On The Cities Park Benches
     With Only A Blanket To Their Name ]
[ They Always Treated Life As A Game ]

[ & The Cost? ]
[ Was Really High ]
[ Everything They Owned, They Lost ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[  Mahalo iā ‘oe  ]
[  A hui hou mākou  ]
[  Aloha  ] ‎ 
  ‎
[  Na  ]
[  Lopaka DeVoe ]

(378)▪︎[ Not A Home … 4•30•2021 ]

[ It Saddens Me When A Very Dear Friend
     Of Mine Told Me That She Did Not Have A Home ]
[ I Was Shocked ]
[ This Was Never Known ]

[ It Is Not That She Did Not Have A Place To Live In ]
[ But It Is Not A Place Where She Wants To Go To
     Again & Again ]

[ When I Moved Out I Heard That Your Home Is
     Always Where You Hang Your Hat ]
[ My Friend Has An Apartment That She Shares With
     Others ]
[ But It Does Not Give Her Feelings Like That ]

[ Actually, She Does Not Have The Kind Of Hats
     That Hang ]
[ Nothing That Would Kind Of Look The Same ]

[ Because She Has Two, Plus A Child, Roommates
     From Hell ]
[ They Are Nice When She Cooks ]
[ Because There Is Always A Good Smell ]

[ So She Walks Through The Door ]
[ @ The End Of The Night ]
[ She Doesn’t Feel Comfortable Anymore ]
[ & That Is Not Right ]

[ There Is No Doubt ]
[ She Really Needs To Move Out ]

[ My Friend Used To Love To Share ]
[ When She Had Food To Spare ]
[ Not Anymore ]
[ No … Not There ]

[ So Her Apartment Does Not Feel Like Home ]
[ Maybe To Her Roommates ]
[ But She Does Not Feel Like It’s Her Own ]

~ The End ~

[ Mahalo ]
[ A hui hou aku ]
[ Aloha ]   ‎ 
  ‎
[ Na ]
[ Lopaka DeVoe ]