Sleeping Rough by Valerie Macon 36 page perfect bound They have lived one sickness, one loss, one paycheck from the curb and have stumbled into the world of Sleeping Rough.  You don’t have to look far; they’re all around you, existing in the shadows of your home town. Next time, notice the gray-haired busboy in your favorite restaurant, or glance into the car beside you at the stoplight.  The author urges you to look into the life of people teetering on the fringe, the desperate, as they struggle through the pages of this book.  And mostly, she urges you not to look away. To order, send check or money order for $10.00 + $2.00 for P&H to Valerie Macon, 1207 Cheraw Coutr, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526
Poems from this book nominated for The Pushcart Prize 2013

NOTE: Profits from this book go to The Garden of Eaten, a community garden established to feed the hungry, the homeless. 

About the Book
About the Author

About the book

This book was written in my Suzuki Grand Vitara during a year's worth of lunch breaks.  I had only to park, open my eyes, pick up my pen, and the homeless paraded before me, compelled me to tell their stories. Once my eyes were opened to their plight, they  began to follow me wherever I'd go. I would spot them in a grueling low-wage job, washing up in a public restroom, selling their plasma for lunch.  I have woven my words through the lives of these rough sleepers, through those who live on the edge of desperation.  Profits from this book go to The Garden of Eaten, a community garden established to feed the hungry, the homeless. 

Sample of the Work

Detour

I’m grateful for my car, he says,
voice raspy with hard living.
Tossed on the seat, a briefcase 
covered with union stickers,
stuffed with unemployment forms, 
want ads, old utility bills, 
birth certificate, school application 
papers for the skinny ten-year-old
sitting beside him who loves baseball.
The cat paces the seats.  Rain 
rumbles on the hood, wind 
snatches the leaves into a spiral—
a layoff, a broken leg, a missed payment;
fate, a twister, picked him up 
and dropped him on a side street.


About the Author

Valerie Macon lives in Fuquay Varina, NC and is a graduate of Meredith College. She traces her love of poetry back to a grade school teacher who stressed memorization.  She has received awards for her poetry from the N.C. Poetry Society, and The Writers' Ink Guild.  Her poems appear in various online magazines and recently in “The Best of 3rd Thursday Fuquay Varina Reading Series”.

Return to top
Return to Old Mountain Press Books In Print