WHAT IF? for Focus Ireland
Words by Stephen James Smith
In association with Body & Soul
Video by Design for Life
Music by Kormac
“If you're lonely
when you're alone
you're in bad company”,
Someone said to me...
Here at the corner of Back Lane
There’s some shelter for now,
Allowing you to be
Philosophical with the pain,
By blocking it out and makin’ a vow
To survive this city.
Such a pity.
Freedom is what we do
With what’s done to us.
So what’s to be done?
It’s the boredom that’ll get you...
“Somewhere in the streets,
In between
Where the ground and sky meets”,
Well meaning people pass by
Talking on phones,
Who walk by chalked poetry on paths,
Beckoning a coin, or to be seen, visible.
Now you know, things aren’t all statistics,
Lives aren’t divisible!
What if
You don’t assume you know me,
Or where I’m from.
But if you’re rootless,
Being ruthless, can be necessary
And you’re only quick to judge
So as not to be judged.
When suicide feels like an option,
Opinions tend not to matter.
But shame can keep you alive...
What if
You could save a life?
But didn’t know you had?
When we can only count the lost,
It’s all adding up to some cost.
I pick flowers,
And make a bouquet for myself,
I tell myself I’m OK, I’m OK, OK...
I’d like to give these petals away,
But who can carry that truth?
What did Larry say?
“Roses are red, violets are blue,
I’m sorry I’m outa me head, I still miss you…”
I didn’t take him for a poet,
But even bravado can lose its guard.
In the backyard pigeons gather,
Some bright morning I’ll fly away...
What if
Life begins,
On the other side of despair?
That’s where I’m reaching for,
Not much more,
A spare smoke,
A dirty joke,
A distraction,
An honest interaction!
I used to be innocent and
What if?
In a sense, I can’t remember
That version of me
Anymore...
And the truth is too far away,
And you can’t carry it with you,
Always...
What if?
I don’t get a bed tonight?
What if?
I can’t sleep again?
Why is this my life?
When it could be yours?
So,
Behave, don't dare cave, to rise up,
But be grateful for your bonus,
And that you’re not me.
What if?
We talk about empathy,
But hide apathy,
When we proclaimed
At the foundation
An estate of equality.
Hide the dirty laundry,
It’s not good for Big Business.
What if?
There’s an exciting opportunity,
For novelty socks and shares...
Who cares for accountability, decency?
Sprinklers soak my marrow to the bone,
While this land is being rezoned.
To stay still,
Is to lose ground,
And any real generosity
Towards the future
Lies in giving all to the present.
What if?
The present story
Could learn from our past?
A history of tenement slums
Can be forgotten fast.
This needs to be addressed,
Not dressed up in rhetoric,
With hashtags to amplify
Our academic outrage.
What if?
Homelessness didn’t mean hopelessness?
What if
It was us, not otherness?
So go on,
Take Back The City,
Raise The Roof!
But don’t bite the hand that feeds you...
When greed keeps the lights on,
And,
You’re only one paycheck away
From the likes.
Don’t stereotype,
We hail from every community.
Why is youth homelessness rising?
When we’re meant to cherish
All the children of the nation equally?
And why can’t we,
Prevent care leavers
Leaving State care,
From going nowhere?
Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.
It’s time to cease,
Sister Stan’s calls
From falling on deaf ears,
Cos couches don’t count!
Evictions and
Emergency accommodation,
Aren’t a solution!
This is a call to action...
What if?
We didn’t rely on the market,
And marked out plans
For social housing?
What if
This wasn’t seen,
As radical rabble-rousing?
Let’s Focus in on kindness,
Focus on what binds us.
What if?
A sea of sleeping bags,
Weren’t seen as well worn out chrysalis,
As weary eyes stare out above a paper cup, into the abyss.
What if?
We thought about this beyond Christmas?
What if?
A hardening state found time to transform,
And a butterfly effect emerged reborn...
What if?
I got a home and didn’t die?
What if?
You could save a life, but you didn’t even try?