Sturdy Beggars

Unhoused, Displaced
It's such a shame to see good labor go to waste
A shadowboxer in the street, an abhorrence
A subway dweller pilfers warmth from the tourists
Street sweep, dead weight
Involuntary institutional domain
A carceral response to a chronic condition ensues
A blackshirt costuming their policy in blue

Mayor Eric Adams, more interested in real estate
Prepares the wagon to sweep the encampment
A threat to no one
The parameters of illness redefined
Now, unemployment is a crime
Reframing and restructuring what we call poverty
As a mental health initiative to clean up the streets
Scapegoat the poor
Provoke the pigs
Placate with force
Take everything

Street sweep
Dictate
Sturdy beggars
Dead weight
Incarceration for the fiscally deranged
There ain't no comfort like a cop and his cage
Street sweep
Dictate
Sturdy beggars
Dead weight
Incarceration for the fiscally deranged
There ain't no comfort like a cop and a cage

This new directive is a paper partition
That separates the warmth
From December death
From whatever's left
Of the place they call home

The city feeds on apathy
Do what it takes to keep the shoppers naive
The prison feeds on the landlord's greed
Suppress the wages so we'll never be free
Scapegoat the poor
Provoke the pigs
Placate with force
Take everything
Scapegoat the poor
Provoke the pigs
Placate with force
Take everything