deepundergroundpoetry.com
No Charity at Home
Across towns and cities
they squat
the length and breadth of the land.
The forgotten shades;
mere shadows of the human condition
and signs of how low
we all can fall
into despair and disrepair.
While other people
complain about the declining state of the country;
discussing politics and beer prices
in warmth others can only dream of
as they huddle beneath the wind and rain
living the unlife of beggars and the homeless.
And I walk on by
because I cannot help them
uselessly dreaming of a better time
when perhaps I am a famous writer
and can afford to be more charitable in my charity,
or perhaps for a better time and world
when someone greater than I can ever be
stops and asks the shades their story
and dignifies them with some humanity
not just acting deaf and dumb
as they plead for pennies worth.
they squat
the length and breadth of the land.
The forgotten shades;
mere shadows of the human condition
and signs of how low
we all can fall
into despair and disrepair.
While other people
complain about the declining state of the country;
discussing politics and beer prices
in warmth others can only dream of
as they huddle beneath the wind and rain
living the unlife of beggars and the homeless.
And I walk on by
because I cannot help them
uselessly dreaming of a better time
when perhaps I am a famous writer
and can afford to be more charitable in my charity,
or perhaps for a better time and world
when someone greater than I can ever be
stops and asks the shades their story
and dignifies them with some humanity
not just acting deaf and dumb
as they plead for pennies worth.
Published 25th Apr 2017
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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comments 10
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26th Apr 2017 00:33am
26th Apr 2017 7:33pm
They may well end up as nothing more than a forgotten statistic of history; all that lost and no amount of words to convey it enough.
26th Apr 2017 2:33am
Lord Viddax this write has so much heart & compassion.. I too wish I had some way to help.. it seems the more people have the less they care about people suffering like this..
love Brenda
love Brenda
26th Apr 2017 7:34pm
The compassion is a bit misplaced as I feel but have no hands to properly help in a hands on way. Seems a bitter mercy that I do not have as much as my contemporaries.
26th Apr 2017 4:27am
They are on our streets too but we don't see them because in some ways, if we strip off our dignity, we would be sitting alongside them too. Good write m'lord.
26th Apr 2017 7:36pm
A sad and foul fact that they become something that is 'part of the furniture' and just the way the world is: and not an injustice to be railed against and removed.
Wow this piece really hit me hard this morning.
I can feel your blood as you pass by...
The entire poem speaks volumes!
Across towns and cities
they squat
the length and breadth of the land.
The forgotten shades;
mere shadows of the human condition
and signs of how low
we all can fall
into despair and disrepair. <--- Viddax, Wow you really grab the reader and pull them in here!
While other people
complain about the declining state of the country;
discussing politics and beer prices
in warmth others can only dream of
as they huddle beneath the wind and rain
living the unlife of beggars and the homeless.
And I walk on by
because I cannot help them
uselessly dreaming of a better time
when perhaps I am a famous writer
and can afford to be more charitable in my charity,
or perhaps for a better time and world
when someone greater than I can ever be
stops and asks the shades their story
and dignifies them with some humanity
not just acting deaf and dumb
as they plead for pennies worth.
Viddax, thanks for this in depth and visceral piece
enjoy this a lot
RL
Zazzles
I can feel your blood as you pass by...
The entire poem speaks volumes!
Across towns and cities
they squat
the length and breadth of the land.
The forgotten shades;
mere shadows of the human condition
and signs of how low
we all can fall
into despair and disrepair. <--- Viddax, Wow you really grab the reader and pull them in here!
While other people
complain about the declining state of the country;
discussing politics and beer prices
in warmth others can only dream of
as they huddle beneath the wind and rain
living the unlife of beggars and the homeless.
And I walk on by
because I cannot help them
uselessly dreaming of a better time
when perhaps I am a famous writer
and can afford to be more charitable in my charity,
or perhaps for a better time and world
when someone greater than I can ever be
stops and asks the shades their story
and dignifies them with some humanity
not just acting deaf and dumb
as they plead for pennies worth.
Viddax, thanks for this in depth and visceral piece
enjoy this a lot
RL
Zazzles
26th Apr 2017 7:38pm
For reasons I will not share (banal and boring as they are) I had to visit two cities/towns on the same day. Each one was blighted by these poor beggars. I hate the circumstance, but not them: but as I say it is someone greater who will solve the crisis.
27th Apr 2017 1:28am
I use to hop trains as a kid (quick ways to get around before a car)
I came to know many destitute and hobos...many by choice, many by cataclysmic horrors happening in their life.
Storytellers, every-single-one ...even if a little off "coherent thought process" these folks live through trials.
The mind can only handle so many attacks from life...it is rather like shell-shock by soldiers; for that is what they are.
Firstly I blame the clock we live under...everyone has responsibilities and duties -demanded by this tick.
Secondly - most societies are borne with the innate need for "stuff" ...to where stuff+status
So there we are too busy to help,, too focused on gathering for Ourselves and Our families.
Our governments tax for the poor and some of Us donate in other ways besides just simple tax.
Yet...one of the first things Our governments pick the pocket of is social reform budgets.
Look at America, how much funding is put into the war machine, how much is taken from the education system or help for the elderly...every state is different on how it is all used but these two get undercut first.
Sad and pathetic it is...1% population needs to own more of this weight, they complain that they lose so much already; but they are given humongous kick-backs for what little they give.
The weight falls on the struggling middle-class to "better" society...and the poor get poorer, shunned, beaten and ran from wherever they can hang their head.
Few countries are forward thinking on this subject and even the best ones still lack.
I apologize for ranting...I could bitch for hrs.
Good to see that Heart out Loud Lord V.!!!
I came to know many destitute and hobos...many by choice, many by cataclysmic horrors happening in their life.
Storytellers, every-single-one ...even if a little off "coherent thought process" these folks live through trials.
The mind can only handle so many attacks from life...it is rather like shell-shock by soldiers; for that is what they are.
Firstly I blame the clock we live under...everyone has responsibilities and duties -demanded by this tick.
Secondly - most societies are borne with the innate need for "stuff" ...to where stuff+status
So there we are too busy to help,, too focused on gathering for Ourselves and Our families.
Our governments tax for the poor and some of Us donate in other ways besides just simple tax.
Yet...one of the first things Our governments pick the pocket of is social reform budgets.
Look at America, how much funding is put into the war machine, how much is taken from the education system or help for the elderly...every state is different on how it is all used but these two get undercut first.
Sad and pathetic it is...1% population needs to own more of this weight, they complain that they lose so much already; but they are given humongous kick-backs for what little they give.
The weight falls on the struggling middle-class to "better" society...and the poor get poorer, shunned, beaten and ran from wherever they can hang their head.
Few countries are forward thinking on this subject and even the best ones still lack.
I apologize for ranting...I could bitch for hrs.
Good to see that Heart out Loud Lord V.!!!
27th Apr 2017 7:34pm
It is rare indeed when my words are outnumbered by someone else's, though in this case it was worth the weight. I do not have the strength to listen to the stories; it would break me, but someone needs to hear them. The sheer irony is that with lots of things, the issue is not money but will and willpower: where there is a will there becomes a way regardless of expense. Throughout history the rich and the modern 1% has had money, most likely to obtain some semblance of immortality, when immortality and popularity are easily accessible by giving to those less fortunate. Seems people are just not cunning, or even evil enough, to do good deeds in order to further themselves.
