Andrew Mears has led a call for 100 poets from the NE to produce a book of 100 poems about homelessness. The book, “Words on a NE Street” has been launched and is now available to buy (£8) at a big fundraising evening on 24 July from 7.30pm at Wallsend Social Club, Sycamore St, Wallsend NE28 6TH. The book is also available on Amazon.
Everyone is welcome, entry is free and there will be a raffle with fantastic prizes, many donated by Wallsend businesses. Entertainment will be provided by local talented musicians, singers and comedians. A great night, for a great cause – not to be missed! Charities to receive all profits from the event include Emmaus NE, Newcastle Helping Street Friends and Heart NE.
Some of the poets in the book are from Wallsend Writing group, which Andrew facilitates. They have an open mic night in the social club on 3rd Monday of the month from August
Here’s one of the poems in the book:
The Homeless Life
by Margaret Montgomery
A vagabond, a vagrant with no fixed abode.
A transient, a tramp, taking the high road.
An itinerant, a swagman, no partner, no one to call brother.
A man of the road, walking heavily, one step in front of the other.
Dispossessed, without a roof, destitute.
Forsaken, down and out, a life of disrepute.
Travelling, labouring or begging, a hobo free from strife.
Such were the semi-romantic notions of the wandering life.
Nowadays, the homeless begging on our city streets,
Are usually young and use the pavements as seats.
Sofa surfing, rough sleeping is what we say today,
Describing a night on a friend’s couch, or lying in a doorway.
There are over one million empty properties in the UK.
It would be easy to turn them into homes, many people say.
Then house the 350,000 people who are in temporary accommodation.
Surely this solution is possible with commitment and a bit of determination.
20,000 squatters already occupy empty offices and shops.
But the problems faced by the 4,000 street sleepers are more difficult to stop.
There are many reasons, and it’s not straightforward why someone ends up on the street.
But anyone there would swap it for a bed in a home in a heartbeat.
When was their path in life determined?
Do some people’s lives start off overburdened?
Is our life’s journey confirmed at birth?
Is it influenced by where we hailed from on earth?
Some people’s hours of labour cannot earn enough,
For a roof over their head and healthy foodstuff.
Another person could have a good job, a good wage,
Enabling them to write a different story on their life’s page.
Is it a question of making a good or bad choice?
Is it important whether you have a ‘listened to’ or a ‘dismissed’ voice?
Does the successful person deserve everything they’ve got?
Does the homeless person deserve their lot?
Seeing people on the streets pulls at my heart strings.
But my sympathy for the homeless doesn’t change things.
My support and donations hardly make an impact.
And years of normalising the sight of street sleepers has remained intact.
It’s shameful that the government can leave people neglected.
They could spend money, give support, so people are respected.
Onlookers may pity the homeless as if it’s a forever state.
But by empowering them we could ensure they have a different fate.
