The Stranger Within Us All

As the sun goes down The feral cat’s prowl Looking for mice, searching for rats In the alley, bins full of out of date And yesterday’s wrapping. A tribute to Consumerisms detritus On the ground a smiling face Colonel Sanders, blocking a stagnant drain. Slowly freezing as the frost descends, And up above the stars shine their scorn, upstaged By the moon, seeking to unveil, The cities vermin Residents of the night. The thief fox, screeches’ his indifference At the stray dog, licking the remnants of last night’s kebab And in the shadows behind the skips, In a cardboard den A pair of eyes glares across the alley Seeking forgiveness that is not there, From within this frail kingdom A tiny light appears, A fragment of hope, the start of a happy ending But no, it is a tab end fading For the last drag has been taken And the last can of comfort is now empty And while we sit down to watch TV To marvel at Attenborough’s view To see the blue planet and the leopard seals kill And "ahh" at polar bears, and gorillas in Brazil All neatly packaged by nature’s quill. Oblivious to the view outside Beyond the living room window A man will not wake For when the dawn releases this night’s chill He will be found, taken away, Sanitized by his black body bag Anonymous to this world For we do not want to know As we did not in life A stain on the community One less beggar to avoid But look in the mirrors spell And dare to What if? You lost your job and your wife ran off Your child was gone and your house taken away Your mind now broken, Fear of humanity is but a step, The comfort of being alone Led you down this dark alley. The rat, and the fox your allies For they too fear mans footsteps Think on for I do not preach Nor do I wish to teach But remember Attenborough’s planet, And the wonder of life I did not see the animals behave this way, Only mutual survival Are we less than that we see? Are we too busy or too proud? I see no mourners here, only indifference And when I die I wish for no mourners too. Jon doe, your maker will mourn for you And relative’s dead will feel your pain And perhaps one day your community Will learn to mourn for a stranger For we are all strangers, when we look the other way May you find peace Sir, whoever you may be?