John O’Mara wasn’t at his best last week.

He’d hardly slept since witnessing the death of his friend Henry (Hugo) Belmore, a fellow resident at the Ottawa Mission, who was stabbed on Rideau Street July 31.

Still, O’Mara was articulate, funny, angry and insightful on what he’d seen of his friends’ attackers (not much), the violent and frightening side of homelessness and his plans to escape it.    

He had so much to say that his neglected cigarette kept going out as he talked, at which point he’d break off to ask nearby taxi drivers and bystanders for a light, always managing to get re-lit after one request or two.

Sometimes, he said, he can run a gauntlet of 20-odd rejections on the street before someone will do him this small favour.

One can start to feel invisible.

In contrast, I was the second reporter he’d spoken to just that morning about Belmore’s murder.

“I’m a popular guy lately because of this thing,” he said, and while reliving the trauma of his friend’s death was hard, he thought that telling the story was an important duty.

“I was wondering how much press the death of somebody from the Mission gets anyway,” he said, “And it’s good to see that people give a s—, and I want to talk to anybody that wants to talk to me.”

O’Mara, 35, is a street artist, drawing “rock stars, hot chicks and superheroes” on the sidewalks in chalk.

He pays for a city permit, but wryly notes the panhandlers make more money than he does.

His enthusiasm for pop culture bubbles up in constant movie references and a pretty sharp impression of Heath Ledger’s Joker. 

He got here from St. John’s a bit before Canada Day, and while he’s got good things to say about Mission staff and the help they offer, he hopes his stay will be short.

His plan is to get a bachelor apartment, a regular routine and a handle on the substance abuse that he says goes hand in hand with homelessness.

“I can’t wait to have some structure and be able to just pack a lunch in a bag and tote down to where I’m working from a nice home and just do my thing,” he said.

“And if I do well, cool, and if I don’t, cool. I can just go home and sleep and tomorrow’s another day in a safe environment.”