Two Poems

flowers of hope

searching for flowers of hope
within the snow and ice of a cold,
indifferent and hostile world;
growing impatient for life's endless
winter to pass, since spring's warmth
may not be enough to compel these
expectant blossoms to rise and flower.

like so many others mindlessly
trampled, leaving the world barren;
desolate of those whose faith, beauty,
passion, strength and resolve would
usually still be able to rise, had they not
had that spirit carelessly plucked from them.

by Morgan W. Brown
March 6, 1999
White River Junction, Vermont, USA


a home is a garden of life

let people find a place
where they can plant
fertile seeds -- that contain
their own hopes and dreams,
from which they may then
draw harvests of plenty to
share with others and,
which they will call home,
for it is a garden where
lives thrive and are grown.

by Morgan W. Brown
August 13, 1999
Montpelier, Vermont, USA

Essay: Gracious Extra Miles & Beyond

The following essay is actually a recently updated and slightly edited version drawn from an original one of mine, which was written over three years ago, during the early autumn of 2002.

Gracious Extra Miles & Beyond

by Morgan W. Brown


Over thirty-two years ago, at the age of seventeen (October 1973), I found myself literally living on the street. Being homeless for the first time, with nothing to lose, no place to sleep or rest and with no clue about where to seek assistance, my thumb was held out to get farther up the road.

After hitchhiking much of the United States eastern coast down and back on my own without money or food and, only the clothes that I wore upon my thin bony frame, I was beyond being exhausted and hungry.

Nearing the end of the return leg, I had serious doubts about ever being able to reach my chosen destination. Hope eventually faded. Negative and scary thoughts concerning my fate took over, pounding away over and over within my already aching head.

The next thing I knew, a commercial short-haul truck pulled over to give me a ride. Opening the passenger door, I cautiously sized up the situation as best I could before climbing in.

Easily sensing how guarded I was, with firm assurance and compassion in his voice that did not fail recognition, the driver offered a ride as far as he was going to his next stop a little ways down the Interstate. As we traveled down the busy highway, he casually engaged me in conversation along with also asking questions about my journey and circumstances.

Once he had my trust enough for it, assistance was offered. Without being asked, he graciously went extra miles and beyond; making sure that I ate a good hearty breakfast – my first in days – as well as, among other things, ensuring that I made a call to those family members of mine whom I was heading up to stay with. Just as if I was a member of his own family, he made sure that I would have somewhere to go and would safely get there.

We parted company shortly after, though not before he had me promise to take good care of myself. It is to this person’s credit that I was able to get to a place where I could actually begin doing so.

There are never enough ways to thank such people for doing something like that, except to make sure that we graciously go extra miles and beyond for those in need who cross our path as well.


Morgan W. Brown, whom has lived homeless off and on over a period of several years in many of its various forms since his initial experience with homelessness, resides within Central Vermont.


This essay is dedicated to the person mentioned anonymously above as well as all others who graciously go the extra mile and beyond on behalf of those in need who have crossed their path.

[reprinted from an original version posted on the Prometheus Project: Clemente Course in the Humanities Project Website; Project Reference Links section, here; Valencia Community College, Orlando, Florida]


*Note*: Reprint information via: morganbrown [at] gmail [dot] com

Brief History: Annual Homelessness Marathon

Read a brief history about how the national radio broadcast all got started as well as how it has evolved over the years, written by founder and director Jeremy Weir Alderson aka Nobody, here.

[brief history, as well as 2002 5th annual event photo (Photo caption: Patricia, a participant at the street microphone; original photo - enlargement, here), via Annual Homelessness Marathon Website]

Homelessness Blogathon

This latest blog project of mine is actually the result of a suggestion I made last year (2005) to Homelessness Marathon founder Jeremy Weir Alderson just after the close of the 8th annual national radio broadcast, when I e-mailed him asking them to consider including a blog as a component of their Website and future broadcast(s).

Jeremy and I have traded a slew of e-mails on the subject and related matters since then. A week ago (Monday, January 23, 2006) he e-mailed me to ask some additional questions and, as part of my response, I offered to volunteer to set up a test blog so they could get a better determine both what one might look like and if it was something they felt inclined going with.

In short order he asked me to do so and, although I told him it could take me a day or two to get it up depending on my energy level, I managed to set up a basic blog within a couple of hours or so.

While there has of course been much more for them to consider before deciding whether to go forward with including a blog, thus far Jeremy and others with the homelessness marathon have been very interested and open to learning.

It is exciting to me that there will now be a blog as a component of the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2006).

The belief I have held for a few years now is that a blog would be an excellent compliment to the annual 14-hour national radio broadcast and, that those of us bloggers and blog readers as well as anyone with online access, can use both this particular blog and blogs we may have or visit as an additional tool for discussion about the matters raised during the event.

Maybe we can turn it into a 14-hour homelessness blogathon, possibly creating some buzz on these matters elsewhere within the blogosphere and help to educate others to the needs and lives of those of us who either currently live or formerly have lived homeless in one of its various forms or another.

Please let us know what you think [of] it so far as well as your suggestions for this blog. Although we cannot promise to be able to incorporate each and every concept or suggestion, especially this initial year of blogging, it would be good to have an idea of what you believe could be useful.

Thank you for reading.


*Note*: Above Homelessness Marathon banner, which is also featured within the right-hand side-column of the pages of this blog, by Jeff Rountree; minor edit within 2nd and 8th paragraphs for the purposes of clarification and readability; last updated on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 8:07 AM [EST].

Homelessness is Usually Puzzling

[originally posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2006, however reshuffled due to size problems faced with the big size of the flash puzzle box and the IE browser(s) not allowing the side-bar column to show in its proper place and down at the bottom of the page instead; so I have moved this post to a day nothing else got posted, which will not mess up either the main or archive pages with other posts on them]


Although puzzle games themselves are typically easier to figure out than the real thing, here is a puzzle for anyone willing to try to piece together.



The fact of the matter is that many things often lead one into homelessness and, no one ever gets there by themselves, so why is getting out of it expected to be any different?

That said, should not the person whose puzzle it truly is, be in complete charge of what is theirs, with whatever assistance offered being voluntarily with the choice of picking and choosing until it appears right for them?

Whatever the circumstance(s) someone may come upon, life often brings with it plenty of hard and difficult questions, no easy or simple answers and certainly no one right or correct - one size fits all - solution or answer.

These are some of the many different pieces of my thinking concerning these and related matters for what they may be worth. What are yours?


*Note*: changed the size of the pieces to smaller ones and hence the difficulty of the puzzle to being tougher as well as more time consuming to solve, which helps to drive the point home a little better; post last updated on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 12:26 PM [EST].

[with apologies to those without flash capability, old browsers and the like]

What is a blog? What is blogging?

These are certainly good questions, ones not always so easy or simple to answer satisfactorily.

That said, the following information is offered for those who have visited this blog, yet are relatively new to blogs and blogging:

blog terms & their usuages

In general terms, a web log (or, blog for short), is a type of website which in one form or another tends to be more personal or casual in style as well as interactive in nature than more traditional websites, especially since they typically employ commenting features and the like. Blogs can be authored by one or more individuals.

blog and blogs: used as both noun and verb (e.g., That is a nice blog you have, and I will blog a post about it.).

blog tool: the program used to create and maintain a blog; they can either be web-based or downloaded to a computer and are user-friendly, self-publishing programs that do not require you to know anything about coding or web page design. They are either relatively low cost, or in many cases, free.

blogosphere or blogsphere: denotes either the entire blog community or a specific community of blogs.

blogroll: a list of links to other blogs and sites of particular interest to the blog owner or done as a mutual link swap. Blogrolls are maintained usually within a side-column of a blog, or sometimes on a separate page or site.

blogging: either working on one's blog or the publishing of a blog post.

blogged: the act of having published a blog post.

blogger: someone who maintains and/or posts to a blog.

j-blogger: denotes a journalist who blogs.

team blog: a blog blogged by two or more bloggers.

[via Discovering Vermont's homegrown blogosphere (bottom of page; article informational sidebar); Vermont Guardian (September 23, 2005)]

A Marathon Run

Must-read article concerning the 8th Annual Homelessness Marathon hosted outside Columbus House, a homeless shelter in New Haven, Connecticut (2005), here [reprinted by Street News Service (SNS); originally published within Spare Change News (Boston, MA, March 2005)].


*Note*: Above photo montage panel via 8th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2005) Website.

Helping the homeless tell their story

keepMEcurrent article (published on January 12, 2006) concerning the work over the last five years of Homelessness Marathon producer Karen D'Andrea, as well as about the upcoming 9th annual 14-hour national radio broadcast being hosted in Atlanta, Georgia beginning on the evening of February 15th, here.

9th Annual Homelessness Marathon Information

To learn more about the Homelessness Marathon, read the press release concerning the 9th annual (2006) national radio broadcast, here.


*Note*: Above photo panel via 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2006) Website; photo by Lee Mandell.

Under Construction

*Updated*

This blog is under construction and, for the time being anyway, is merely a test blog while[for] the Annual Homelessness Marathon considers its potential blogging options.


*Note*: edited post to reflect the evolution of this particular blog from its test phase to one of potential utilization; last updated on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 2:20 AM [EST].