So Close and Yet So Far

I had my doubts about the title this time. The picture could have been called Bad Companies, Dubious Shelter, Not So Safe, Sour Sweet Dreams or whatever. I finally decided for how something that is so close to this person like Bank Santander in this case can give him so little and yet ironically offer improvised shelter. Framing is awful, sorry about that. Red I kept to stress the logo of one of the most prosperous banks in Spain. The rest is obvious.

Where Do All the Lonely People Go?

Where do lonely people go? Those who seldom know a shelter of their own. Where do lonely people go? Those who left for good one day slamming the door Where do all those homeless people go? All those forgotten by their sons Where do all those shipwrecks repose? Banished castaways on nowhere land Where do all desperate bodies rest when the mind abandons every hope? What becomes of them when all is lost but death refuses their requests? Why are there such limbos upon Earth? What kind of vicious fate can take you there? What were they? Who were they? How do you know it is not your turn? How can you tell? I see a bunch of kids playing in the park, laughing. What horrendous scheming decides who's gonna be next?

Home Bad Home

In plain daylight and quite near La Boqueria market in Barcelona there was this young couple sound asleep alien to passersby peeking up through the chain link fence. Two old guys stood right next two us, you know, retirees of those that approve or disapprove things up, nodding disdainfully.

Poverty-Stricken Barcelona: Woman Begging, Paseo de Gracia

I won't judge this time. I leave it up to you. This is a woman begging on the corner of Passeig de Gracia and Plaça Catalunya, just in front of El Corte Inglés. One of the richest spots in Barcelona. It was a very hot afternoon, the normal kind of day this time of year, the same all stuff, lots of people, sweating all over. And there she was. People seemed to draw a safety perimeter around her with their feet. The same old story.

Homeless in Barcelona, Spain

Some months later, the same corner, the same guy, the same situation, the same precarity and poverty, no matter what government is ruling, no matter the price of the oil barrel, no matter how high or low Dow Jones index is, no matter who ranks first in the Forbes list, no matter how rich the Vatican is or how many skyscrapers are built in Dubai or how many jewelry stores are in New York's Diamond District or how well Chinese economy is.