Help The Homeless

They live in urban drains and subway tunnels.
Camp under interstates and form tent cities.
Seek warmth at night in homeless shelters-
These chronic vagrants who live in poverty.
They are victims of lack of public assistance.
Job training and housing will help the homeless.

It's not just drug addicts who are homeless,
More with mental disorders live in tunnels.
Amid scraps and misfortune without assistance.
A darker world lies beneath the cities,
Where hundreds of homeless live in poverty.
Some actually drown in their makeshift shelters.

Some live for years in these tunnel shelters.
Children are not exempt from being homeless.
As more and more people are driven into poverty,
They, too, become inhabitants of underground tunnels,
Underneath the bright neon lights of the cities.
These children deserve to have public assistance.

Yet, there is a decline in available assistance.
Funding is needed to keep open shelters.
As unemployment rises in cities,
More children will end up homeless,
And live with their parents in tunnels,
Suffering from the pain of poverty.

There's a link between homeless and poverty
A need for more housing assistance.
To help get the homeless out of these tunnels,
Job training programs are offered in shelters,
But, to reach many more of the homeless
More programs are needed in cities.

To put an end to "mole People' in cities
We have to wipe out pitfalls of poverty.
Help thousands that are homeless.
Support the centers offering assistance.
Keep the doors open in shelters.
Be that light at the end of the tunnels.

Volunteer in cities, offer more assistance.
Put an end to poverty, provide more shelters.
Get homeless people out of the tunnels.



The sestina is a strict ordered form of poetry, dating back to twelfth century French troubadours. It
consists of six six-line (sestets) stanzas followed by a three-line envoy. Rather than use a rhyme
scheme, the six ending words of the first stanza are repeated as the ending words of the other five
stanzas in a set pattern. The envoy uses two of the ending words per line, again in a set pattern.

First stanza, ..1 ..2 ..3 ..4 ..5 ..6
Second stanza, ..6 ..1 ..5 .. 2 ..4 ..3
Third stanza, ..3 ..6 ..4 ..1 ..2 ..5
Fourth stanza, ..5 ..3 ..2 ..6 ..1 ..4
Fifth stanza, ..4 ..5 ..1 ..3 ..6 ..2
Sixth stanza, ..2 ..4 ..6 ..5 ..3 ..1

Concluding tercet:
middle of first line ..2, end of first line ..5
middle of second line ..4, end of second line..3
middle if third line ..6, end of third line ..1