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Sleeping rough in Westminster

Rough sleeping in Westminster is at a high,

MP's avoid eye contact as they pass us by.

We are the victims of the problems they have created,

Due to the cost of the properties we have vacated.

 

We are pushed out of sight and out of mind,

MP's pretend we are not there,that's unkind !

Posh and highly educated,it is us they neglect,

Support for the vulnerable ,they continually reject.

 

Vulnerable support is being slashed to bits,

While the perpetrators enjoy their meals at the Ritz.

To give us a semblance of normality MP's frown,

We might as well throw ourselves in the Thames and drown.

 

I walk around with a bag of regrets,

Fumbling in bins for discarded cigarettes.

The cold at 4 a.m. bangs through my body,

Poor health,damaged well being,feeling really shoddy.

 

A carer for my gran who lived in a council flat,

Sadly she passed away ,no home for me after that.

I'm scruffy and smelly haven't washed for a while,

I look down at my dog,he brings on a smile.

 

 

 

 

 

◄ Tom Sykes

The importance of teamwork ►

Comments

<Deleted User> (18118)

Fri 8th Nov 2019 19:18

Very moving,
The plight of the homeless must never be forgotten or overlooked.
Thankyou for writing this.

Hannah

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Hugh

Fri 8th Nov 2019 07:12

"I love my country,sleeping rough I hate,
Why have I been allowed to get into this state?"

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Hugh

Wed 6th Nov 2019 21:24

Governments crack and systems fall,
Austerity lands and hits us all.

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Hugh

Wed 6th Nov 2019 16:04

"I am not a junkie as people perceive,
A roof over my head I pray to receive."

<Deleted User> (18980)

Wed 6th Nov 2019 12:21

It's easy to blame MPs for everything, but I don't think they can be blamed for high London property prices. That is due to London being a successful city which tends to suck in people, in particular immigrants.

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M.C. Newberry

Wed 6th Nov 2019 12:13

Emotive for sure, but as a Westminster local and long term worker/resident, allow me to point out that the place doesn't choose to be a doss house for those in the "homeless" situation
(the term alone has numerous definitions). I worked in the 1960s docklands before it became the fashionable Canary Wharf we know now. Vagrancy/begging might have been a feature of life
there for many reasons but it wasn't so. Preferable to go "up
west" - again for numerous and somewhat obvious reasons...not
least more congenial surroundings, parks and large numbers of
passing-through people who are charitably inclined (here today/
gone tomorrow - back home).. In short, there are always two sides
to this particular coin - and assorted varieties and values of the coinage itself. Here in Westminster, we are in a no-win situation
- playing host to those with problems that far outreach our own
culpability/responsibility to cope. The Council must feel like King
Canute trying to hold back the waves! After all, the more
successful and sympathetic they appear to be, the more likely greater demands will be forthcoming as the word spreads down
the grapevine and the numbers multiply in the heart of London.

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