Full Of Heroin… They Call It “Brown Town” Now

by Paul Tristram / December 11th, 2016

I remember, back in the day,
when there were only two people
sleeping rough… both tramps
in their late 50’s,
one up each end of the town.
Nowadays, Jesus Christ!
the shop doorways, church steps
and park benches are full
to overcrowding with nippers.
Wandering ancestral streets
in the small hours,
nicking anything not nailed down,
robbing Milkmen and Postmen
at needle-point.
They beat a 39 year old Care Worker,
mother of 5, to death with a dogshit bin
for the medication in her bag
(Laxatives and Insulin syringes!)
Dirty and ragged, desperate and hopeless,
they naively joined a mental chain gang
and flushed their young souls away.
Each passing decade gets a little harder,
colder and more cruel.
The ‘Lost Generation’
is reaching epidemic proportions.
They might not have dropped
those Atomic Bombs quite yet.
But those streets are losing colour
and looking Post Apocalyptic all the same.

Paul Tristram is a widely published Welsh writer who deals in the Lowlife, Outsider, and Outlaw genres.  He wrote his first poem as a teenager following his release from the (Infamous) Borstal ‘HMP Portland’, and he has been creating Literary Terrorism ever since.  His novel ‘Crazy Like Emotion’ published by Close To The Bone Publishing is available to purchase right here Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, December 11th, 2016 at 8:03am and is filed under Poetry.