Letting it Flow

One of You

 

One of you

 

Inspired by my mate Mathew

 

Hey mate, can you spare a dollar?

What about you?

Fine then, I'll sit here

On my milk crate

Or perched on the step

And wait for someone else

Who can actually spare some change.

 

I see you bustle past on your way to work

Or your friends

How lucky are you.

I wish I could have those "problems"

What about you? Anything helps

I haven't eaten in a while

No? God bless.

 

The least you could do is look

See where I spend all my time

Where I am every day

Doing my best to get by

Not ignore me

Hurry past me

Looking the other way

Stepping around poor old Tom

Like he's a pile of garbage

The waste of society

 

I used to be one of you

I used to be dreaming of your problems

I used to be safe and snug in a home

Then my ma died

Car accident, god rest her soul

My dad drank and drank

To get rid of the hole the truck left

And one day, he drank all the pain away

I didn't know what to do

I was some scared and frightened kid

So I ran

I squatted

I settled on this step in the sun

And tried to drink my pain away

 

It didn't work for me like it worked for my dad

So now here I am

Clothes that the Salvo's gave me

A milk crate I found out the back of the grocery store

And my old toy truck

My own personal treasure

From back when I was one of you

Tucked away under some cardboard boxes

The red fading just like my memories

Of a happier time, a bed, even food

Just some old lonely bum now….

 

A tenner? Son, I could hug you

But then you'd end up smelling

Like one of me