POEM - "Have you met me yet?

HAVE YOU MET ME YET ?


 


I’ll never forget the moment
That I cost that man his life
 I was the clever surgeon you see
 I was the one with the knife


I let him slip away and die
Due to pressure and lack of sleep
I can still see his face
And it still makes me weep


They gave me the death certificate to sign
An upsetting sight to see
I completed it and signed my name
And wrote cause of death “Me”


 I couldn’t cope after that
I'd killed a man for sure
I couldn’t work, couldn’t sleep
And for me there was no cure


 I lost my job, lost my home 
I even lost my wife
I had no friends to turn to
I'd just worked all my life


So I wandered about the streets
and every day Id roam
Until I met others  like me
They taught me to build a new home



The found me cardboard and newspaper
and some led to sell
They shared what they had with love
And with hints to keep me well


 They came to help me and move me
When the law people invaded our home
But we just moved on, looked after each other
And found a new place to roam


 I could get any money,
‘Cos I had no address
I could get a job
‘Cos I was such a mess



 I’m grateful to all those people
who do not finish their food,
They bin it, I find it, I share it
With my loyal friends, it good!



 Don’t be mistaken, I do not complain
So please, for me, don’t be sad
I’m warm and alive and my friends
are the best I’ve ever had


 
I saved many lives in my time
And to the people who have saved mine, I’ll cry
“Thank you for not walking by me
Not deciding who I was and why”


 
I’m having a new education now
The old one’s no good where I roam
I help new comers all I can now
Show them how to build a new home


 As folk walk by me,  I hear them
Complaining of life, and what’s wrong
I smile and say, I am grateful for mine
Cos this is where I belong


 I do drink alcohol, you know
It keeps me warm, numb and calm
I hate its taste, have you seen me?
And just decided who I am?


 
So I wonder if you have met me yet
And if you did, what would you do?
Or have you passed me already
That is perhaps up to you


 
I wonder if you’d recognise me
Cant describe my clothes, or I would
My clothes may change as someone needs them
Cos they’re new and need them and food


 
Well keep an eye out for me
I’ll nod as you go by
And I hope you have friends as good as mine
And that your are warm and dry.

 
Take care x
    
 
By Linda Anderson dedicated to the street people,  who teach us all !