Today’s New Verse News: THE SHOW-ME STATE GOES ROGUE
by George Salamon
"In Missouri, a new state law that took effect on 1 January makes it a crime for any person to sleep on state property. For unhoused people, sleeping in public parks or under city highways could mean up to $750 in fines or 15 days in prison for multiple offenses." —The Guardian, January 5, 2023. Photo: An unhoused person in Los Angeles. Photograph: David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images via The Guardian.
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Homelessness is a crime
in the state of Missouri,
where sleeping on the
street is not punishment
enough for so capital a sin
by those who belong in a
loony bin for the criminally
cruel and heartless, claiming
the voices in their heads
are those of God or Jesus,
without even being facetious.
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George Salamon thinks he sees where this is going. As Richard T. Evans pointed out in The German Underworld. Deviants and Outcasts in German History (1988): "The Nazis planned their first big round-up of the homeless as soon as they came to power."