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| (Image by Paul Whiting) |
More Than Just A Word
Being "thankful" is not merely having an
overly-full stomach, with your friends
and family gathered all around you,
on a celebratory autumn day;
Being "thankful" is also good food
filling, and warming, your empty belly,
with your fellow homeless people gathered
all around you, on any given day.
Being "grateful" is not just the sound of rain
dancing on the roof of your dry car—where
the most you have to worry about is being
ticketed for speeding within city limits;
Being "grateful" is also the rain singing on
the roof of a city-permitted tent city—where
you no longer have to worry about being
ticketed for camping within city limits.
Being "helpful" is not simply offering to
let a total stranger cut in line in front of
you, during the busy holiday season, in
order to give their tired feet some rest;
Being "helpful" is also offering to let a total
stranger stay in the unused camper in your
backyard, during the off-season, in order
to help them to get back on their feet.
Being "hopeful" is not always longing
for exceptionally long-lasting and loving
relationships, a consumer-driven lifestyle,
or even untold fame and fortune;
Being "hopeful" is also having hot,
nutritious food, being able to find
affordable housing, and praying to be
shown a little kindness along the way.
-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., Three Dark Horses)
"I am the darkness which brings the light!"
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My Writing About Giving Alms To The Poor: I budget for "carrying cash" each month in my monthly budgets for any expenses that I may wish to pay for in cash. And I budget—specifically—to use some of my carrying cash to help homeless folks who are panhandling, or "spanging" (which is a term that is a blend of the word 'spare' plus the word 'change' from the phrase, "Do you have any spare change?" or the phrase, "Can you spare any change?") and that is how I give "alms to the poor." –Paul Whiting (written December 26th, 2015, revised September 24th, 2019, revised December 23rd, 2021, revised December 24th, 2021, revised December 25th, 2021, revised December 26th, 2021 and revised July 6th, 2022)
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My Spiritual Notes:
The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I wrote this poem after I was homeless for ten days in October of 2009!
And, for me, the toughest part about being homeless wasn't living outdoors, since I was basically "camping": it was the way that some people treated me, because I didn't have a place to live. [However, I should clarify that it never stormed while I was homeless, nor did it ever reach freezing temperatures; plus, I had money available to buy whatever I needed (the reader should know that I am HIV-positive and that I have full-blown AIDS) due to the fact that I am on "SSDI," or Social Security Disability Insurance.]
And so, I budget—specifically—to use some of my carrying cash to help homeless folks who are panhandling, or "spanging" (which is a term that is a blend of the word 'spare' plus the word 'change' from the phrase, "Do you have any spare change?" or the phrase, "Can you spare any change?") and that is how I give "alms to the poor."
By the way, the image illustrating this poem is "My Portable Condo," which was my portable housing for ten days, until I was able to get into 'hard housing,' so to speak, which was a tent city called "Dignity Village." Later on, I was able to get housing in a home that was operated by a straight married couple living there, where I rented out a room and lived with other individuals who were dealing with various housing-challenge issues. And, eventually, I moved into my current studio apartment, located in a low income housing apartment building, where I have lived since June of 2010.
Just so you know, I revised this poem, as I often do with my writing! And I changed how this poem was written when I was editing it on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer," "Small All White in the Forest" and "Three Dark Horses" blogs. So, I wanted to show you how this poem used to be written, before I revised it as above.
And it used to be written like this:
More Than Just A Word
Being "thankful" is not merely having an
overly-full stomach, with your friends
and family gathered all around you,
on a celebratory autumn day;
Being "thankful" is also hot, nutritious
food filling and warming your empty belly,
with your fellow homeless people gathered
all around you, on any given day.
Being "grateful" is not just the sound of rain
dancing on the roof of your dry car—where
the most you have to worry about is being
ticketed for speeding within city limits;
Being "grateful" is also the rain singing on
the roof of a city-permitted tent city—where
you no longer have to worry about being
ticketed for camping within city limits.
Being "helpful" is not simply offering to
let a total stranger cut in line in front of
you, during the busy holiday season, in
order to give their tired feet some rest;
Being "helpful" is also offering to let a total
stranger stay in the unused camper in your
backyard, during the off-season, in order
to help them to get back on their feet.
Being "hopeful" is not always longing
for exceptionally long-lasting and loving
relationships, a consumer-driven lifestyle,
or even untold fame and fortune;
Being "hopeful" is also having hot,
nutritious food, being able to find
affordable housing, and praying to be
shown a little kindness along the way.
Thus, I revised this poem to be written as it is above.
And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" and "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blogs (please see the hyperlinks below for the blogs), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest" and "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer."
This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.
-Paulee
https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com
https://paulwhitingwriting.blogspot.com
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P.S.: If you are interested in reading all of the posts in the series I wrote that include the poem "More Than Just A Word" from the above-mentioned blogs, which are listed under the post title,
"For The 'Just Us' Of The Lord, Part 1" through
"For The 'Just Us' Of The Lord, Part 5" on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog, as well as listed under the post title,
"The 'Just Us' of The Lord, Part 1" through
"The 'Just Us' of The Lord, Part 5" on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blog, please see the hyperlinks below:
https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com/search/label/For%20The%20%27Just%20Us%27%20Of%20The%20Lord
https://paulwhitingwriting.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20%27Just%20Us%27%20of%20The%20Lord
P.P.S.: If you are interested in reading all of the posts in the series I wrote that include the poem "More Than Just A Word" from the above-mentioned blogs, which are listed under the post label,
"Thankful" on both of my "Small All White in the Forest" and "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blogs, please see the hyperlinks below:
https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com/search/label/Thankful
https://paulwhitingwriting.blogspot.com/search/label/Thankful
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This "Three Dark Horses" Post No. 031 was edited on April 4th, 2026.
"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]
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