St. John of the Freeway

I have read a few poems in my day on the homeless and I have to say this poem tops them all. The creative structure of this powerful piece touched me and the ending was a touch of reality, mixed with eye opening interpretations.

This poem goes deep into detail- It shows truthfully tones and detailed imagery of the homeless man to a tee- It made me feel like the man didn't care of the condition he was living in, only to read his "treasures" This poem shows spirit! This poem was a joy to read. I adored the rhyme pattern throughout. Love this piece!! Well Done Larry

I really liked this poem when I first read it and after several reads I like it even more. There are a couple of things that are bugging me about it though and I hope you will consider them?

John read things off the ground.
He'd pick up flyers, old papers,
notes and magazines he found
despite their dust and vapors.

^^^^

The first image offered here is that John reads things off the ground which suggests that he just looks at them while they lie there...in the second line you tell us he picks up flyers and old papers. My suggestion would be that you swap a couple of words round...

John picks things off the ground
he reads flyers and old papers.
--------------
Used to pass him on my way to work
dragging a shopping cart along
eyes down prizing the murk
plucking golden dreams for a song.

In my opinion, you need a full stop at the end of line one...otherwise it sounds like you are actually dragging the shopping cart along...and maybe a comma after along?

Just some thoughts I've had and have been nursing them for the past few months LOL!!!!

Great story poem Mr. Chamberlin. Who can not be touched by these lines. Though a transient, these people have a purpose and maybe more so than we realize. I guess most every town has their own Prophet, here he is called Buddy, same story, gratetful for any helping handout.
Peace and Blessings

Amazing piece:) I enjoyed reading it

I dont know what feeling I got from this poem, all I know is I was wiping my tears at the end of it. It touched me alot somehow, or my subconscious atleast.

I like your description of how you see him, the way you described all the things he do. The rhymes were flawless as always, and the piece is just outstanding.

God bless this guy.

A nomination in my book!