To Live On These Streets

To live on these streets
You have to mask your intentions,
Avoid the drugs that bring despair and defeat,
Not judge anyone drifting
Into bad luck and loneliness.

The streetlights and neon signs
Have a pensive glow
But the homeless saints
With random smiles
Preserve the slightest hope.

I’ve seen the children
In paint-peeling houses
Show kindness to everyone they meet.

I’ve had people die at my feet
Just hours before the dawn
In my beloved Detroit,
But I knew God was watching
In the dark starless sky
Trying to keep us all alive.