Adena M'lynn's Voice

Class assignment 10/23 -Trilogy/Spoken Word Template    Part I “Do We See?” Spoken Word Freestyle template Written by Adena M’lynn Do we see — or do we just look? Because there’s a difference. Looking is quick, seeing is costly. We walk past people like they’re scenery, like pain belongs only to strangers, like hunger and homelessness don’t wear familiar faces. Do we see the woman counting her change at the register, or just the line behind her growing impatient? Do we see the child quiet in the corner — not shy, but afraid — because home ain’t safe? We’ve trained our eyes to edit out discomfort. We blur the parts of humanity that don’t fit our feed. But the eyes of the soul — they see what the world hides. They see exhaustion behind polite smiles, broken dreams in grocery store aisles, tears that never make it to daylight. Do we see our neighbors or just the numbers? Do we see the need or just the nuisance? When Jesus saw, He wept. When we see, we scroll. Maybe seeing is the ...

She never thought homelessness would happen that way.  It wasn’t drugs, or laziness, or even a fight—just a letter. A knock. A warning. She knew the FBI would come pick her up. No timeline. No answers. Just, “Don’t leave.” In the meantime, everything froze. Her accounts. Her job, gone. No income. No help. No one to call. She was in legal limbo—and then, just like that, she was on the street. Three months. She lived like a ghost with an expiration date. Waiting for the government to come claim her, while the world just…moved on.  Outside libraries. Laundry mats. In emergency rooms just long enough to stay warm before security kicked her out. She applied for shelters, but the waitlists were months long and the beds filled fast.  She was given pamphlets, advice, and nothing she could actually use. And no one really understood. Because in their eyes, she wasn’t just homeless—she was waiting to be arrested.  What do you say when someone asks what you do for work and the t...