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ON THE BLOCK

ON THE BLOCK

   Urban sprawl,

   Graffitied walls

   High rise flats.

   Hooded twats?

   City dwellers? 

   Cocaine sellers?

   Eyes on sticks

   And cars on bricks.

Everybody’s feeling

The youths are dealing.

   Slowly drowning,

   Always frowning.

   Trying to impress you,

   Even oppress you.

   They look rough,

   They’re not really tough.

They work in gangs

But they’re not real gangsters.

   Seem to be hard

   But they’re really mard.

   They’re carrying knives,

   Fearing for their lives

   Not like the old school,

   No need to be tooled up.

Pull up hoods

And put on gloves.

   When it’s dark

   They make their mark.

   Guarded by the night,

   Hidden from sight

   Faces scowl

   As they prowl.

Looking for a victim,

Why did they pick him?

He was alone,

Talking on his phone.

Didn’t see it coming

Or he would have been running.

Home to his wife,

It could have saved his life.

He didn’t make it back,

Cos’ he got a crack.

On the back of his head,

He ended up dead.

His family didn’t know

Until they answered the phone.

His life had been taken

They weren’t mistaken

He won’t be coming home

They will be alone now.

What happened to our right

To stand up and fight?

Kings of our castles

We could do without the hassle.

Instead of running scared

We could be more prepared,

There should be more support,

When it gets to court.

Deprived backgrounds?

I’m sick to death of that sound.

Put them all in gaol,

Watch their faces pale.

Maybe they’ll think twice

 If they pay the price.

© By: - Pete Slater. 2011

 

◄ A FRIDAY MORNING BUBBLE

COMMON OR WHAT? ►

Comments

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Noetic-fret!

Sat 27th Apr 2013 21:21

It's an angle! A good angle but here I have to have some empathy with our young people. Without saying too much, they have only ever known doom and gloom. Back in our day things were more optimistic, we had Glasnost and Perstoika, we had The Berlin Wall come down, we had Nelson Mandela freed and the end of Apartheid and White Minority Rule in South Africa, the Cold War became over and generally there was more optimism in the world. What do our school leavers have to look forward to when they leave? It shouldn't happen I know, but what they have grown with is a society that's losing it's fabric. Nevertheless a good read, you can empathize with the family, but it does sound a little bitter and places blame where it may not necessarily lie.

As Mike says, good stuff at the end of the day.

best wishes,

t'other mike

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Mike Hilton

Wed 24th Apr 2013 15:14

Hi Pete,

I read this straight off in with a 'Cooper-Clarke' style in my head.

I don't know if that's how you intended it to be but it worked for me.

Nice one mate - good stuff

Mike

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Mike Hilton

Wed 24th Apr 2013 15:13

Hi Pete,

I read this straight off in with a 'Cooper-Clarke' style in my head.

I don't know if that's how you intended it to be but it worked for me.

Nice one mate - good stuff

Mike

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