Michael Poem by Carolyn Brooke

Standing by the window
Watching people pass
Thinking they can’t see him
Staring through the glass

Lonely and broken
Tired and hungry
Lost and alone there

Tears run down his face now
Diamonds through the dirt
No-one cares about him
No-one sees his hurt

Needles and tubing
Foil and white powder
Wanting and needing

(he lost his way, a long time ago,
Despite the road map on his arm)

He feels his life is over
Shamed, ignored, and lost
He has just one more package
Fine white fatal dust

He crouches in the corner
He takes one last look round
At the squalor that surrounds him
Before he hits the ground

Folding and drawing
Breathing and crying
Helpless and dying