Best Down And Out Poems
Down and Out in Saigon
Southeast Asia, and Mexico
has always attracted
A certain type of westerner
The down and out
On a down word spiral
Why?
Relatively cheap to live
Lots of part-time gigs
Teaching English
Or other things
Cheap Booze, drugs, sex
Readily available
Places to stay
Dirt cheap
And no one needs
To sleep outdoors
Easy to disappear
Into the foreigner's backpackers ghettos
And escape
From whatever you are running from
The locals are somewhat tolerant
The police usually look the other way
And there are lots of people
In your shoes
I was surprised to find
That Saigon has become
The latest place
For the down and outer crowd
In Bangkok, one sees them a lot
In Cambodia as well
In the Philippines
In Nepal
And south of the border
In Mexico as well
and Eastern Europe
and Latin America
In India not so much
In Japan and Korea
Just too damn expensive
And too cold to be outdoors
Back in the day
I used to work
The citizen services gig
And saw lots of the down and outer set
The old blues song
comes to mind
No one remembers you
When you are down and out
And in the States
Being down and out
Means living
on the mean streets
As it is very difficult
To live with almost no money
And the various side hustles
Don’t give you much money
Unless you are dealing drugs
And teaching ESL
Is not an option
other hustles are difficult
and begging gets one arrested
Food is expensive
Transportation is expensive
Booze and drugs expensive
Rent is prohibitive
Commercial sex is expensive
And no one loves you
If you are down and out
No one knows your name
You are just another
homeless bum
Invisible to all
As you try to make do
Much better to be down and out
In Southeast Asia
Than on the mean streets
Of the USA
“Stay away, I can’t afford to be sick.
Hand sanitizer please, and make it quick!
I can’t have the flu,”
I moaned as I puked -
“I’m out of Tylenol, Nyquil, and Vics!”
12/30/11
For "Sneezing Limerick" contest
You eager commuters
you don’t see me
in the shadows shivering
Remembering that green door and the
warm baking bread smells
A king in a pocket sprung bed
Beside my abdicated queen
And the curly haired prince who
No longer hears my song
You eager commuters
Forward looking
I alone have
Wealth and friendship
Bottle shaped
No idle chit-chat
But whispering cold comfort in my ear
and warming the broken hollows of my heart
You eager commuters
understand
This nook is not a chosen one
Not for its smells of rotting waste
or its views of shoes and hemlines
Of swiftly passing people
Averting their lofty eyes
From this pile of rag and bone
That used to be a man with house and home
Hey stranger, will you help me
I’m begging of you please
My world has been turned upside down
And now I’m on my knees.
The job I held has disappeared
The wife I had is gone
The child whose hair I ruffled
no longer hears my song
My cosy hearth a memory now.
The comfort of my home
replaced by rotting garbage,
and a makeshift bed of stone
Don’t pass me by like that sir
Just some pennies or a pound
Would buy some comfort for me
While you are homeward bound
I was once a knight in armour
Desirable and clean
Not just a heap of rag and bones
That you can pass unseen
Please kindly sir, please help me
My life is now so bleak
My mind is not so good now,
my body oh so weak
The content of this bottle
is now my only friend
it warms the hollows of my heart
I know will never mend
Just stop and spend a moment
A chat would be so good
To have a conversation
like normal people would
I don’t know about the football
The tv, or the news
But perhaps my horror story
will help you change your views
I didn’t mean to be here
It’s really not my choice
But when you’re broke and lonely
That’s when you lose your voice
No-one will listen to you
Your pleas on deaf ears land
Your past is unimportant
You’re just a homeless man
Oh stranger won’t you help me
I’m begging of you please
My life has been turned upside down
And now I’m on my knees.
So many nights like these
on my hands and knees
Begging God please
give me just a little release
In a dark desperate state
with too much on my plate
Straight out of the gate
this seems to be my fate
Since the womb ive been denied,
hated and despised
Just another outcast from the tribe
, discarded, judged and tried.
A wayward son buried deep
, too many secrets Ive had to keep.
This insanity steels My sleep
, a weeping wailing black sheep.
I scream up at the skies,
is it all just smoke and lies.
It just seems the more i try,
i never find peace of mind.
So i pray my heart will heal
and God will give me a better deal
And true happiness i can feel
and he will show me what is real
I found you when you were down and out
your soul with holes and inside doubt
the prayers you said with your rosary
did not stop that deep, deep bleed
you looked through me like I wasn’t there
taking what I offered, refusing to share
I stayed beside you—held your hand
helped you try to understand
the closer you got, you were further away
holding me close yet still at bay
I warmed your lust, but not your heart
you told me from our very start
the tables turn, I place no blame
on love’s defeating, haughty game
words don’t come in any form
at night when I lay safe and warm
I always knew you wouldn’t miss
any form of a vacant kiss
always reading yesterday’s news
it is just the publisher’s views
DOWN AND OUT
By:Poetic-Life
May 21, 2013
i cant explain my feeling anymore cause everytime i think of you i cry, i been crying for days and nothing i can do but cry i can wipe my tears but im still going to cry, i can promise you that im not going to cry but im still going to cry, as my night and days appear i sit on my bed in my heartache in tears, i may have cried a river who knows, it still stay that i cried day and night, and the pain i have will not go away, i get on my knees asking god help me through this time but i still feel the tears coming down my face and now i feel all the tears i have are gone and i just sit up in the middle of the night wishing that things were same but deep inside my heart i know they isnt and its killing to not say how i feel, i been in pain cant talk cause its like you really isnt there, i cant speak to you at times cause feel like you dont care, it feel as if im a nobody, i dont know if i can bare another tear anymore, i dont see my happiness end yet to come, i see the pain in the rain to come , i dont see it getting any better yet
By:Poetic-Life
May 15, 2013
< whispers of the wind .........
speak to enchanted sea .........
bp ........ going down
How I hate the way I feel today,
I just want everything to go away.
Don't know if I am angry or sad ,
All I know is that it feels real bad.
Everything is so mixed up inside ,
Confused by it all I just want to cry.
Closing my eyes trying to get some rest,
Doesn' help much getting only moments at best.
Hoping for nightfall is what I want now,
Praying tomorrow will be better some how.
How I hate these days when I am down ,
Wishing nobody would ever come around.
Asking myself why I am in this mood,
What will it take to change my attitude.
Surely there is something to make me smile,
I wonder if there is because it's been awhile.
Reading the book to maybe see my way through,
It doesn't help either I am still feeling blue.
Listening to others and what they have to say,
Changes nothing at all I still feel this way.
Why are there days I feel so down and out ,
Makes me want to just scream and shout.
Wait for the morning sunrise is what I'll do,
Possibly then I will be able to talk to you.
Oh how I do not like the way I feel today,
It's just the worst ever feeling this way.
TAC
don't dwell on the past
when the future has alot to offer
Poor man down and out
Set aside like trash at
A cold curb left
To wonder about how
Life so promising
And glee, could gray
Into thick black haze
Of somber dream
And waking nightmare
Where hunger live stout
And doubt stouter still
Each nights' eternity
Coolly serves reminder
Hope is beyond,
Far beyond...
This concrete laced lot.
When your down and out
You want someone to lay down with you
Shine a light
Wash away all your dreams
Ease your mind
So all your troubles disappear
Look into your eyes and wipe away the the tear.
When you are down and out
When you feel alone
When the key no longer fits
When you no longer feel safe
When you can’t reach; reach whom it concers
When you can’t reach; reach the ones you love
When you can’t reach; reach the one you love
When you are isolated
When you can’t have visitors
When you aren’t allowed visitors
When you needed a friend
When you needed more than a friend
When you needed a shoulder; to talk too
When you needed a hug
When you needed more than a hug
When you needed; love
When «how are you?» are to be answered with «I’m fine, how are you?»
When you aren’t ready for a good advice
When you are down and out
Then «social distance» doesn’t help
Then «no hugging» doesn’t help
When you are down and out
How are you really?
Really; how are you?
When you are down and out
I see «andrà tutto bene» written on the wall
Everything is not going well; I know that
But; things will get better
Even; when you are down and out
When I feel down and out
It makes me want to shout
No one wants to hear it
So it makes me feel arrogant
My heart is good
But to many get misunderstood
I'm on my own
And nothing is set in stone
I'm there for friends
But mine don't want to bend
Nothing much I can do
But keep going like I do
Occasionally, we might stub a toe,
Or even sometimes, skin a knee.
Now while most of us fully recover,
It's not always done gracefully.
We might also get our nose bloodied,
Yet we're compelled to never quit.
So that whenever we stumble and fall,
We'll rise above, we won't just sit.
These are lessons learned early on,
Where managing pain is clearly taught.
Though for some the lesson is lost upon,
Those who couldn't see a victory if they fought.
If we fail in these efforts when struggling,
Then our survival will be shortened, not endured.
And should we decide to give in to what's easy,
Mankind's fear will remain as reassured.
This is why we must never give up or into,
The shadows of doubt that attack our soul.
Because the very fight is for our survival,
And if we lose , we may never be whole.