Tuesday, February 12, 2013

News at Eleven: Unemployment benefits he [Jesus "Papoleto" Melendez] had

thought would be extended through March--when several events related to his book would be held--instead ended in December.  He is looking for work, but opportunities for a poet are few.

On a bookcase crammed with dog-eared tomes, rests a letter rejecting him for food stamps.  He awaits a decision about welfare. At 62 years of age, a man who has been a poet, a prophet and king--Gaspar, in the neighborhood's Three Kings Day Parade--now might end up being a pauper.

from The New York Times: Poet and Prophet of El Barrio May Soon Be a Pauper

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