Hunched shoulders

hands in shallow pockets

hiding from the cold

left hand searching for an ember of warmth

in the corners of threadbare lining

fingers tingle

as he finds his last penny of comfort...

a pick for his guitar

 

His soul released

he starts to play

Hendrix style - Hey Joe

people stop, heads turn,

faces stare

as he rocks All Along the Watchtower

 

Acoustic sounds chase the applause

around the subway walls

coins snuggle together in the guitar case

Purple Haze bounces off graffiti

every note stroking the imagination

 

He's in the zone

 

Then...

A raindrop falls on his brow

and rolls down the side of his eye

another trickles down his nose

gently dripping off the end

breaking his dream

 

Heavier rain dances

on the cardboard duvet

soaking his doorway bedsit

 

This is No Fixed Abode dale

this is My dale

this is Your dale

this could be Any dale

but it's not  Emmerdale

certainly not Emmerdale

it''s not  a soap opera

or a play

 

This is today...

 

Where decision makers

are stacked on rhetoric shelves

high

beyond reach

together with snakes and ladders

monopoly fat cats

sound bite bubbles

archived stats

quantitative easing

and austerity measures

 

No pleasures, fancy words

or curtains to close

at No Fixed Abode

just stars to count

with nowt

but a dream to chase

down the helter skelter

that screams

Gimme Shelter ! Gimme Shelter !