There but for the grace of God, I thought,

As he rose from his place on the pavement

And stumbled to the shelter for some soup.

Fifty, probably, but looked ten years more.

Unshaven, stinks, frankly, but still too proud

To ask for a bath. How did he get here?

Not long ago, he had a job, a spouse;

Then both disappeared and his home with them.

‘Bloody fool,’ he mumbled, ‘no di...

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DERELICT

[ SONG-LYRICS ]

______________

 

I am no one but I am

Known by everybody

 

Only seen but never heard

Just part of the scenery

 

Hated, ridiculed & shunned

For the way I live

 

I survive through every day

On what others give

 

Nothing to my name by a heavy load

And plenty of freedom

 

Never knowing where the road takes me

Where ...

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Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth, like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many—they are few!

(From the Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley)

Below is what I consider to be a Manifesto of Hope, to whose motives and principles I wholly subscribe.

 

Public ownership of all public services and infrastructure, including ...

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Jubilee

 

A step across the great divide

From this side to the other side

A cautious step, a careful stride

Centuries long and twice as wide.

 

Carefully place your stumbling feet

There’s caterpillars in the street

ghost butterflies with ‘nowt to eat

a life to live and death to cheat

 

TV screens in shop windows

Relay the parties and the woes

Resentment in...

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A lonely soldier sits in silence
Amidst a hectic city crowd
His strength drained long ago
this man who once stood proud
he risked his life for his country
A land which once he loved

Conscripted to an unbearable war
Where he struggled long and hard
His once agile body now shattered
PTSD has left his mind scarred
more deserted than hes ever been
silent remains his internal screams

He...

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They seek shelter from the rain

In the doorways of the city

Although the lights shine so bright

Believe for them it's far from pretty

Watching the world pass them by

In a kaleidoscope of grey

Feeling like nobody notices them

As we continue with our day

All they ask for is a moment

Someone to stop and talk

Providing them with some comfort

From life's painful, lonely...

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Galileo once said the earth was round.
Round and round we go.

Why do we cling to broken things.
Round and round we go.

I had a dream it was truth.
Round and round we go.

One small step for man. One giant leap forward for mankind. Forwards and backwards.
Round and round we go.

The rise and fall of rome. High tides, low tides flow back to the sea
Round and round we go.

This god, ...

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Jimmy Is A Ghost

 

Jimmy is a ghost

Of the man he used to be

He sits in the rain

Drinking second hand tea

And he hopes that his kids

Will never have to see

His hands outstretched

In an ignored plea

Yeah Jimmy is a ghost

 

Jimmy is a ghost

Off of Oxford Street

He has nothing left to barter

He has nothing left to eat

Just threadbare dreams

And train...

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He was a bit-part actor, he never dreamt of commanding his stage

He signed on as a walk-on character, a cameo role in a one-off play,

Each night he learnt his lines, the same words he would speak every day

Rehearsing his part word-perfect, in the hope that his public would pay

 

No one spelled out his name in neon, the only stars he knew were in the night sky

His costume was neve...

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Been working on this for a while... not sure about it really, but see what you think..

Stu of the Steps

 

 

This is my pitch, here’s where I sit

Cardboard and cushion to keep cold at bay

Down steps from the station, just half way

Gives em time to see me, reflect a bit.

 

Not all the way down, hanging in there

Holding my own, keeping my space

Forgotten detritus of t...

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So many are falling from the skies, of comfortable lives

Until between the clouds, we can see me and you

Drinking in the bar one minute

Then outside Tesco

Mouths ajar

 

So many are breaking up inside

Falling from the skies,

Of comfortable lives

 

Passing the credit cards

Trying to grasp Universal Credit

Fingertips touching their children

On the way down

La...

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Bag Of Bones

 

Please let me introduce myself -

my name is Billy Jones.

You might know me better

as that useless bag of bones

that gets under your feet

when you’re staring at your phones,

planning all your creature comforts

on extortionate pay day loans.

Well I was once like you my friend,

I haven’t always been alone

huddled up in corners

where the autumn lea...

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Forsaking Auld Lang Syne

 

The city centre puddles

reflect fireworks in the sky

whilst stripped

Christmas wrapping paper

soaks up the deluge

like a homeless sleeping bag.

 

Dustbins overflow with leftovers

oiled with greasy greed.

 

A bottle of wine splatters against

the multi-storey car park wall,

vomited from the throat

of opulence at midnight.

 

...

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This Is England

 

the empty cardboard

coffee cup groans with hunger

eyes to eyes to anything

that isn’t eyes

clothes that itch with dirt

the taste of yesterdays soup

settles against teeth

 

sleep is the enemy

dulling your hopes of escape

if the spiteful arrive

with mean intentions

and brown leather boots

 

head bowed against the world

not looking ...

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It’s the final burial ground –

the place where they go to die;

lapping dirt-brown waves;

tourist couples bidding goodbye.

Ships slicing through soundlessly,

as smog adorns the sky.

A pigeon hobbles by on its stump,

while a gull lets out a mournful cry;

beside benches, an old man holds out his cup;

on the cobblestones stands a solitary bride.

A homeless girl leans agai...

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Arroyo

The rain has fallen down for twenty hours
from a dead sky of slate and granite hews,
dampening the walls of urban towers.

Cobbled streets the colour of an old bruise,
tyres rattle over pothole dark drains,
counterpoint to some distant splashing shoes.

The day cast in monochromatic stains
as water forms itself into a lake
that eddies into inner city lanes.

A passing car cre...

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A soldier stands among the crowds, No longer strong, no longer proud,
He risked his life for the country he loved, For those he cherished for all of us.   He went to war, and he fought hard, His body bruised his memory scarred,
Now his rights have gone away, He lives alone, uncared for, abused every day.   He was lucky in some respects, He made it home, he survives yet...

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  Little Jimmy wasn't at school today, instead he remained at home, All his friends have gone away and he's left all on his own, Why did the world turn its back on him, what did he do so wrong, He closes his eyes and dreams a while of a place he can belong.   Now people say that home is where the heart is, but not in Jimmy's case, Another punch or kick waits for him, that he w...

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Adopt

Saint Stephen's tale

It's Friday, sweets from Mrs Smith

Degeneration X and anarchy

Frankie's words: two tables, four chairs, suspension.

Discovered passing the buck, and thus passed it.

Stole the show with Twenty-one Questions, four dancers, and a singer.

First girlfriend changed everything, "You're young, she has baggage - get rid..." … did...

A pla...

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