HOMELESS
Source: A songwriting and poetry course I attended.
Author: Leonnie a member of the course.
It's a street in Melbourne,
But it could be your hometown.
It's dirty, with the grime of life smudged into it,
It's got a smell, unique to the rubbish of life,
It lacks the colours of joy and laughter,
It's noisy with the sound of seagulls and traffic.
Against such a grey and dull setting,
We find people living,
With all their possesions under their arm,
With no money in their pockets,
And little food in their stomaches.
A hidden existance of friends and family,
Maybe not traditional but a bend of familarity,
An acceptance of who each of them are,
Something they never experienced in their original home.
The rules of survival are different here,
But all your senses are alive,
A tapestory of networks and contacts have evolved,
The Salvos on Tuesday for hot soup,
The old warehouse when there's a frost,
The Richmond bridge on hot Summer nights,
The night sky is so beautiful,
How sad for those who sleep under a roof.
How did each one find themselves living on the street?
Alcholism, incest, family breakdown,
Violence, bankrupcy, hate, anger, hurt, rebellier,
The reason no longer matters,
Here is where they live,
Here is where their reality is defined.
There is meaning in their life.
Their dreams are no different to your or mine,
To be loved, accepted, nurtured and cared for,
A warm bed, a roof over their head,
A place to rest their fighting wills,
But there isn't time for pondering such things,
It only gets in the road of surviving their reality.