Tuesday, August 28, 2012

One Man's Garbage
Another Man's Castle 
by: N.C.

Once again, I'm awoken by the sounds of passing feet,
On the streets of New York City outside the place where I sleep,
It's not a house, It's just a box, but it's mine,
King of my castle
Plus it's convenient I pay no rent, live where I want, there's no hassle,
The problem comes with the winter,
When it's cold or when it rains,
But when the weather is really bad I bum two bucks and ride the trains,
Today it's nice not too hot, 
A perfect day to walk the streets,
A quarter here, a nickle there, within an hour, I should eat,
That's the part I hate most,
Asking people for money
They look at me like I'm a nuisance or even worse like I'm a dummy,
At one time I had it all,
I have no home, I am just lost,
But that's the past, what's done is done,
My stomach, hurts, damn I'm starving,
A little girl with her mother looks at me,
Like I'm a martian,
I heard the daughter ask her mother why his clothes are full of dirt,
The mother says cause he's a bum to stay away, he might hurt you,
I keep on walking asking people if they got some change to spare,
Only one guy helps me out, all the other's just don't care,
I pass McDonald's and on the floor I see a bag that's full of fries,
And as I eat I see a man stare at me with sorry eyes,
He walks up to me and asks me why I won't just go into the Church,
I say cause after that I'm in a shelter,
and in my opinion there's nothing worse,
I turn around to walk away,
The man says wait and gives me a buck,
I tell him thank you and God Bless,
He says be safe and best of luck,
With that buck, I have 4 dollars,
It's time to get me some liquor,
I haven't seen my baby brandy since lat night,
And boy I miss her,
But I'm still hungry,
What should I do,
Stop a second to sit and think,
And when I sit, my hands start shaking,
It's then I know I need a drink,
So, I'm off to the store,
To get a nice big jug of brandy,
I always say hi to the cashier, I'm never short,
But she still can't stand me,
I take my liquor and go to the park,
Now it's time to have some fun,
Cause when I drink I feel great,
I'm a normal person, not just a bum,
I find a bench and start to drink and before I realize it's after nine,
That always happens when I drink,
I just zone out, lose track of time,
I'm really drunk and my head is pounding,
All I want to do is sleep,
I start walking home so I can lay down,
And rest my aching feet,
I find my block turn in the alley,
And what I see leaves me in shock,
I was a bum but now I'm homeless,
You see someone threw away my box










*The work displayed in Links Not Chains belongs to the authors exclusively and the content reflects the opinions, feelings, and observations of the respective author only. Some of the names have been altered in order to respect privacy.

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