The Tramp (A Poem Influenced By A Friend)

Slowly

            He slouches along

                                                Whistling that well-worn tune.

A piece of string hangs loosely from his waist,

        Enclosing a fat paunch

                                    And well worn gray coat

Silently

            He plods along,

                                            Singing the words of a new tune

That he picked up from he knows not where.

        The words make him stop and wonder

                                    At their startling realism.

Stealthily

            He catches his thoughts

                                            Seeing the dawn break

Over the horizon, marking out the beginnings of a new day.

            The early morning news from the terraces

                                    Make him stop to listen

Singularly

            He walks alone

                                        Never a friend by his side

No-one to laugh and joke with

            As he walks through his lonely vigil

                                    Without love.

Friendless

            Not even a bird

                                        Will converse and pass the time

He is ill tempered, but chose this life for himself

            To forsake the cares and worries of the world

                                        To be ......... alone

Free

            To ramble where he will,

                                            He was young once

But never enjoyed the fine balls others gave

            The gay party life was not for him

                                        He despised it.

Filling

            His world with peace and solitude

                                        This is the way he will spend his life.

Wandering, willingly

                Defying danger and deterioration