The poems inside this book come from the pages of Street Sense over the course of its first three years of operation. Homeless and formerly homeless men and women, many of who also sell the paper, wrote all of these pieces. While some are directly about homelessness, many are far from this topic and describe love, work, friendship, sorrow and pain. These poems reflect their deepest thoughts, creative dreams, complicated pasts, and immediate needs. Street Sense is a nonprofit newspaper aimed to educate the public and empower homeless individuals. It not only provides immediate income to men and women on the street, it also gives them self-respect and a stepping-stone into the job market. Homeless and formerly homeless men and women in the Washington area sell the paper. Each monthly publication of Street Sense is filled with news stories on relevant topics related to poverty and homelessness. The paper also contains editorials, puzzles, a fiction series, restaurant reviews, recipes, and of course, poetry.