1st chant
gimme a dime, gimme a quarter, loonie, dub-loonie, coffee, cigarette, token, some money
hey mister … I ain’t gonna hurt yu, please cn yu help me; hey mister … cn yu help me please, cn yu help me …
hey mister … down on my luck, chief, down on my luck
2nd chant
gimmus sum, please need sum, gotta get sum, can you spare sum
hey you—fat cat—you’ve never seen hard times
hey you—rich lady—just gimme what’s in your wallet—you’ll never notice—help you lose weight—yeah
hey you—you who’s ignoring me—how would you like to be in this place, you think I want it?
3rd chant
can’t you see me, you look right through me like I am a glass bone
1st thought/inaction
how can they get like that, how can they get there, could I get there, what would put me there, how close am I to the brink; what separates us? please don’t ask me, please don’t bother me … it all started with … don’t mention that word: “they”
1st letter to the editor
they are worth less
they are less than worthy
they are trash
they die in the street
and no one notices
because they are less than trash
2nd thought/action
here’s a loonie—buy a hot lunch
here’s a loonie—get yourself a shower
here’s a loonie—buy some new clothes, you smell
here’s a loonie—get a life
4th chant
we are—the city
we are—the silence in the streets
we are—the shadows
we are—your incomplete
2nd letter to the Editor
something should be done so people like that … something should happen because people like that … people like … people like … people like … let’s make a law so that people … let’s make it illegal … let’s try to control … let’s stop this flagrant abuse of the generosity of our society … so that people like that … like that … like that … like that … just stop being … like that … stop being …
Peterborough Poets 