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Homeless

 

I thought of you as a friend.

We shared our bread

Our innermost thoughts

Our shopping bills, the very air

We breathed, our lives, our home.

 

Now, ‘our’ has become just ‘I’ and ‘me’,

Did the marriage of our minds

Simply fail to satisfy you.

Did I snore? Did my breath smell bad?

Was I the worst nightmare you ever had?

 

I am out on the streets,

As the cold nights draw in.

I forage for the small change

A stranger has thrown in my tin.

Will I be able to buy my old life back?

Or should I just buy some booze

To ward off the nightly panic attack.

 

I hold my despair out in front of me.

It is plain, the pain in my eyes.

You’d have to be blind not to see.

This downwards spiral will be there

Until the end,

But I wanted you to know, my dear,

I thought of you as a friend.

 

I have found a new home in the litter

On the way to Piccadilly Station.

We form a ragged line of human

Refuse, refugees from the blight

Of modern existence, relationship

Breakdown

And the cost-of-living crisis.

You can see me in my new shop doorway,

It’s the one just around the bend.

Come and see me and I’ll tell you

I thought of you as a friend!

◄ Jolly Fine Words

The Death of a Poem ►

Comments

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John Botterill

Tue 29th Mar 2022 21:53

Thanks for the like Stephen A😀

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John Botterill

Tue 29th Mar 2022 07:29

Thank you so much, Holden. Your appreciative comments mean a great deal to me 😊
Thanks, too, Ursula and Nigel for the likes 😊

Holden Moncrieff

Tue 29th Mar 2022 00:39

A very profound and powerful poem, John, written with empathy!🌷

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John Botterill

Mon 28th Mar 2022 18:33

Thanks Stephen and MC for your postive responses. I was trying a different perspective 😉

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Stephen Gospage

Mon 28th Mar 2022 17:38

John, this poem illustrates how easily one can fall off the tightrope of a comfortable life. It is really well written. Thanks a lot.

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M.C. Newberry

Mon 28th Mar 2022 17:37

This reminded me somehow of that old depression song "Brother,
can you spare a dime". ..I think it was the use of that last line
in the final two verses.

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