From Seven Floors Up

In her poem "From Seven floors Up," Sharon old uses dramatic contrast to show how different her life is from that of a homeless man that she observes on the street which just from the title one can surmise is some distance away. This woman is watching this man from afar in relative comfort and though she tries to understand his situation, for her that is an impossible task.

The experience to which she can best relate to that homeless man's situation is coming home from a camping trip and being able to use a clean restroom. This man is pushing around a shopping cart filled with"in the world all he has here" and all this woman can do is watch from afar and try to picture herself living such a life.

The overall feel of this poem is that of the harshness presented by a life of homelessness. Having no place to call your own, constantly moving your worldly possessions must feel like a hopeless situation. I found this poem to be rather enlightening in that even though we may not have much, we need to appreciate what we do have because there are those out there with a lot less.