An Article in The Baltimore Sun

An Article in The Baltimore Sun

The Christmas beat and bingo,

An electrical blackout in Baltimore!

Giddily…act professional now…

All sides of the story, hear…

Remember the homeless make people uncomfortable,

And this is Christmas…

So be even-handed,

Show no priorities of morals…

That doesn’t sell papers.

ã28 December 1996, Daphne Yvonne Bradshaw.

A Baltimore Christmas Shopper

A Baltimore Christmas Shopper

Gawd, I only have a week’s more shopping days

Until Christmas, and I’m at the mall, hon,

And the lights go out.

It’s a jungle in there, I tell ya.

Anyone could hurt me or steal

My Tickle-Me-Elmo doll, my purse,…

Maybe I could get out without paying…

Gawd, where are the lights?

A person could get hurt in here.

ã28 December 1996, Daphne Yvonne Bradshaw.

A Baltimore Med Student

A Baltimore Med Student

Countless cups of coffee, a few pep pills, no sleep…

A few more hours and boards behind me,

I can sleep before my internship duties start again.

My sacrificed health for short-term memory

Is a good deal to be a god or demi-god, at least.

Then some bozo lights a fire in some trash,

And the electricity goes out…

WAH! Now I have to wait a few hours

To take that shit test,

And I may forget all I crammed for—

Or sleep through the whole damn thing.

I paid my dues. I did all that was asked of me.

This is the reward I get.

Great. Instead of becoming a demi-god,

I may flunk med school…

And I even have a great bedside manner, too.

ã28 December 1996, Daphne Yvonne Bradshaw.

A Homeless Man in Baltimore

A Homeless Man in Baltimore

I used to have a home, a wife, some kids,

A job, even the occasional friend.

Then I was downsized—

A fancy word for canned…now I live from cans—

   To eat, to sleep, and tonight to stay warm.

It’s so cold in this city this winter.

God, I’m numbed out of my mind.

All I want to do is stay alive.

ã28 December 1996, Daphne Yvonne Bradshaw.