Hunger and Thirst for Justice

        This past weekend, I went on an immersion trip with my college's campus ministry to downtown Erie. We were there Friday until midday Saturday volunteering at various homeless shelters and soup kitchens and engaging with the homeless people that stop into the establishments to get some warmth. While I was there, conversing with many people who have a very difficult life and spend most of their time worrying about where they will sleep or when they will eat again, I had a moment of clarity. I realized that these people needed a voice that could be heard through the masses. I can recall countless times when I have been in Church and the petitions said, "For the homeless, sick, and hungry in our community, we pray to the Lord," and I would respond, "Lord, hear our prayer" without even giving it a second thought. The concept of being homeless used to be so abstract to me, but after hearing testimonies of many who live on the streets just minutes from Mercyhurst College, I can picture the alleyways where they sleep to avoid the wind and the doorsteps where they sit to rest their aching feet. 

        My short experience ignited a fire inside me. I'm itching to learn more about this epidemic, figure out how to fight it, and bring it to people's attention. Just as I begin to think about a way to get the word out about injustices, I remembered that so far, every poet we studied in class has done the very thing I'm aiming to do. Tagore worked to foster humanism during a time of struggle between India and the invading British, Storni used her poetry to increase awareness of the feminism movement, and Neruda, another Latin American political poet, used his status to expand the knowledge of the innocent people harmed by the Spanish Civil War. Just as these events needed a voice to speak out against the injustices, people today are needed to stand up for those who have nowhere to sleep at night. 
       After looking back at the poems by Neruda, I came across, "I'm Explaining a Few Things." I read it again and was struck with the compassion expressed in Neruda's words and his deep involvement with the injustice of a crumbling suburb. Not only did Neruda write about the situation during the Spanish Civil War, he conveyed pain, suffering, hopelessness, and destitution. In lines 51-54, he wrote, "Face to face with you I have seen the blood / of Spain tower like a tide / to drown you in one wave / of pride and knives!" Here, I can feel Neruda's pain and exhaustion with seeing the destruction of a place he once loved. He is trying to gain the public's sympathy for the innocent children and families affected by the war and make them understand that there are real issues in Spain that need to be resolved. This poem was a change of pace from some of his previous poetry, so at the beginning of this poem, Neruda referenced it saying, "You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs? / and the poppy-petalled metaphysics?" He was trying to explain that people write what they know, and recently all he knows is the unfortunate effects of war and anger. 
        Just like Neruda writes about what he knows, I realize too that this is something I must do after my experience with some of Erie's homeless population. I saw their struggles and their poverty. I know that many of them work full time trying to save up to rent a place to stay, but life gets in the way: Children get sick, husbands get fired, cars break down. Many of our nation live from paycheck to paycheck and are one bad day away from being out on the streets. Our campus minister asked our group to reflect on a brief prayer during our time in service, and it goes as follows: Dear Lord, give those who are hungry and thirsty food and drink, and give those who are not hungry or thirsty a hunger and thirst for justice. Amen. I have been awakened to the plight of hundreds of hungry people just minutes away from where I live. I realize that I need to be a voice for those that don't have the strength to help themselves, and a person that hungers and thirsts for their justice.