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A TRANSIENT'S TALE
THE TRANSIENT'S TALE
(T. Beechey)
It was gray and overcast when he came passing through
I thought he'd simply go on past like most people do
That's what the kind ones do,but they're an endangered race
Usually,they fling puppy poo right into my face
So,I was apprehensive as this stranger neared
Did he have something to give or was he to be feared?
I thought about running and hiding and staying safely hid
But something deep inside told me to wait and so I did
The stranger smiled,said "Hello",and then he shook my hand
And I thought,it's been a while since one tried to understand
I felt the tears form in my eyes as his hand I shook and shook
And I thought about the fall and rise my situation took
It hadn't always been this way,I used to have a life
Then came that fateful day when my children and my wife
Left me and I lost my job,the house fell to disrepair
And I became a worthless slob cause I no longer cared
He said,"I don't know your story but I've been in your shoes
"You don't need me feeling sorry,so I'll give you happy news."
He handed me a business card and a ticket for the bus
He said,"I promise I'll try hard to make you part of us."
A part of what? I didn't know but it sounded really good!
Maybe,at last,I'd be able to go away from this neighborhood
To live a life of luxury without a worry in the world...
I was so excited to see what the stranger would unfurl!
All that night I couldn't sleep,I'd just toss and turn
What was the promise he would keep and how much would I earn?
As the sun began to rise,I stumbled out the door
So tired I couldn't keep my eyes hardly opened any more
"You'll never make it," said a voice which echoed in my brain
"It was such a stupid choice for you to try and remain
"Wide awake when you could have slept cause now your fate is sealed!
"The bus will leave and you'll be kept fom having the promise revealed!"
At the bus stop,I waited while leaned against a pole
If I sat down,sleep waited to fully assume control
An hour passed then one more,then three and four and five
It's then I began to snore and that's when the bus arrived
While I slept,I dreamed about having everything I need
No longer having to fret or doubt or having to beg and plead
I could stand on my own two feet and hold my head up high
As I proudly walked down the street wearing a suit and tie
But no one bothered to wake me,they left me leaning there
Then some guy tried to break me in half with a metal chair
Repeatedly,he pegged me in the ribs and on the head
I managed to murmur,"I beg thee! Just leave me for dead!"
And that's how he left me,literally beaten to a pulp
When they wheeled me into Emergency,all I could do was gulp
My arms and legs were broken,both my eyes were black
And my rib cage was poking not in front,but out in back
I woke up three days later inside a hospital room
Hooked up to a respirator and completely filled with gloom
Standing over me was that stranger who gave the business card
"I promise you lots of danger," he said,"and to be forever scarred."
