Homeless by Lorraine Pickles

Your sleeping bag is on the pavement
Next to the bars and cafes
Alongside the yachts in the harbour
Other people's means of escape-
Men in the bars get drunk
And the unhappy ones, the trapped ones
Abuse you, spit on you
Tell their friends in a loud voice
That all you want is money for drugs
That you have a house nearby
You could go home to.

Someone tucked you up once
Read you a bedtime story
Kissed you goodnight-
Had your school uniform ready for the morning-
I like to think so anyway.
Maybe someone held you once
Told you you were the only person in the world they would ever love.
Maybe you have held a baby in your arms
Thinking that you would do anything to protect them
To save them from cold pavements in December
From the relentless grind
Of finding shelter and food
Trying to keep dry.

Now all your life
Is squeezed into reusable bags for life
And your love for a dog with sad eyes
In a Santa red coat
That you wrap up warm at night
With what little bedding you have,
Until the dawn comes
And you begin again.

~ Lorraine is an interfaith minister / chaplain working in the Bristol region.
From next week Bristol Churches Winter Night Shelter will be offering accommodation for the street homeless in various locations every night until the end of March. Lorraine feels very honoured to be part of this project and also the Homeless Outreach team attached to Bristol Cathedral.
Following one of her shifts between Christmas and New Year she wrote this poem.