had the loveliest conversation with a homeless man for almost 3 hours today. spoke of religion, hypocrisy (Jehovah’s Witnesses preaching God while ignoring him and this other homeless woman, eating their meal in front of her while she’s asking them for food), his life and family, poetry (he's just begun writing poetry and has written two, recited them for me and both were lovely but one in particular was genuinely beautiful, called “an ode to the reckless joy of youth”). dude’s been through a lot but has such dogged optimism through it all. it takes a certain strength of spirit to live through everything a lot of these people have been through, and there’s never an uninteresting perspective. greatly recommend giving them your time if you’ve got it to spare (as well as a meal or a quick Walgreen’s run).