He stood in the middle of the street
Shouting and swearing and drinking
The cars honked at him as they drove past
Swerving and about him thinking
That he was a nuisance and useless
And that was all he would ever be
What he was they did not know
What he was they could not see...
This man he had seen the world
Had sailed the seas low and high
I do not know what happened to him
To turn him into this guy
Who drank and swore at everyone
And in public did urinate
In public, on the street
Swaying in his drunken state
I look not and speak not to him
As quickly I hurry by
This neighbour, who slept neath the bins opposite my house
And say to myself, there but for the grace of God am I
So many Irish are like him
On the streets of the UK
Unknown, unloved by those at home
Who assume they are OK.
But this is not England
We cannot ignore thos one anymore
Whose drunk, homeless, unknown and unloved
In his hometown: Tullamore...
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The poem above I wrote about a man who once was a rich sailor, comes from Tullamore and comes every so often to town, where he sleeps rough,drinks on the street and swears at passers by...
He used to sleep beside bins opposit the house I lived in by Fergies pub...
Those wishing to help thoselike him should visit the Simon community webpage, and forward this message on...
From the Simon website:
"What is homelessness?
Simon believes that any person who sleeps rough, lives in emergency accommodation or in inadequate, insecure or unsafe housing is experiencing homelessness.
Rough sleeping is the visible and extreme side of homelessness. This is what most of the public think of when they hear the word 'homeless'. There are thousands of individuals and families who are homeless and living in emergency accommodation.
Being homeless is more than about being without a roof over your head it's about a lack of security, lack of belonging, lack of privacy and lack of safety. The experience of homelessness is arguably one of the grossest violations of human rights in developed economies like Ireland.
Homelessness is not, and should never be accepted as, an inevitable outcome for any person.
We believe that homelessness in Ireland can be ended. By an end to homelessness we mean no one will have to sleep rough because of a lack of appropriate services, no one will have to live in emergency accommodation for longer than is an emergency, and no one will become homeless due to a lack of services or inadequate housing provision.
For more info on ending homelessness see: www.makeroom.ie/policy/"
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http://www.Simon.ie
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