Shutting My Eyes

Today I don't want to see. I don't want to see the homeless men gathered on the corner in my city, jobless and ignorant of their purpose. I don't want to see the lines for free lunch at the shelter. I don't want to see the storage unit filled with bags and bags of clothes, the only possessions of a homeless woman who hoards useless things and panhandles to pay her storage rent. I don't want to see the family with no food and two weeks to go until the food stamps get renewed. I don't want to see the man who is trying to get a bus ticket home and feels like he has to make up a story to get it. I don't want to see the two men I helped with bus tickets last week, in case their stories weren't legit. I don't want to see the man painfully shuffling to the shelter for his free lunch, taking over an hour to walk a mile and a half up, an hour to walk a mile and a half back. I don't want to see the cold rain soaking the coats of those who cannot even afford bus passes, much less cars, as I pass by, dry and warm. I don't want to see the women in our shelter who will have no home in 5 days. I don't want to see the struggle, the inequality, the lack. The needs overwhelm my soul to point of tears and despair. Today I don't want to see.