From the recording Vagrancy's A Crime
I heard on the radio (I think NPR) about a number of American cities recently passing laws that make it a crime to sleep in a public place (like in a park or on a sidewalk.) So where is a homeless person supposed to sleep? It seems to me that poverty is being criminalized in this country. I don't believe that most people are homeless because they are trifling and lazy. I believe that like me, they would love to have a bed to call their own. And truthfully, many of us are no more than a pay check or two away from being in the same desperate straits.
<a href="http://dogwooddaughter.bandcamp.com/track/vagrancys-a-crime" mce_href="http://dogwooddaughter.bandcamp.com/track/vagrancys-a-crime">Vagrancy's A Crime by Dogwood Daughter</a>
Lyrics
When you're down and out
Nobody knows your name
Vagrancy's a crime
Beggins' a disgrace
Looking for a place
To lay your weary head
Loitering's forbidden
A sidewalk ain't a bed
(Chorus)
You didn't know when you lost everything
You'd be shunned like a leper
And hounded like a beast
Poor is unforgivable
No money means no rights
So move along now, fellow
Vagrancy's a crime
Wandering the street
Time goes so slow
Talking to yourself
Conversations all alone
People hurry by
They don't want to see
Afraid they might catch
Poor like a disease
Chorus
If you could sleep
Then you would dream
Somebody kind, with arms open wide
Would say, come in,
You're welcome here, Friend
Chorus
Copyright 2010 Martha Maria