The strays ( to be one is to wish you were never born) the down and outs the homeless the put outs the lost

We are part of an army
we may be broken spirited
lost souls on a journey
to a new life anywhere
put out by the human tribe
lost souls we are lost souls
wandering the lonely streets
and just finding despair

cruelty and larceny and evil
seems to follow us
creeping in the shadows
the darkest depths of sin
this is not existence
though we fight to stay alive
seriously most of us
know we can never win

many of us are injured
lured into a false regard
offered food and water
and poisoned by the mob
beaten with whatever
broken limbs we get them
as the winter storms across
the land it tends to rob

us really of all semblance
of comfort for its icy blasts
drive us to confusion
as to really where to go
to get out of the biting winds
that gnaw into our very core
and kill so many of us
frozen in the snow

our dreams to sit around a fire
and share the glowing embers
to curl up in a basket
with a bone perhaps
who remembers
those days when we were part
of a family those were great
somehow we got lost
when we just walked out the gate

some of us were taken
to the countryside and left
some were just thrown
on the free way
bloody well bereft
some were taken to the pound
some just walk about
and I got lost
and have been tossed
into a life of doubt

the people can be lovely
but most alas a rough
disgruntled in their own lives
they have some real strange stuff
going on it seems to me
for what they do to us
put poison meat down
how do we know
and many more just cuss

they throw sticks at us
scream at us
no matter where we go
around just any corner
some kid will want to throw
a brick perhaps
or worse still
will take a pot shot and
a slug inside your leg
can fester well you understand

then we get so dirty
so much filth on the street
puddles we try to wash in
we get spikes in our feet
one of my friends was targeted
with a blow lamp she was burned
people really are very sick
and few souls are concerned

we know of course you are out there
some of you would be
loving and caring to us
but most can’t feel our plea
we look at them with doleful eyes
but that they do not see
they do want us around their homes
and so realistically

we have to bugger off
to places where less humans are
in parks in woods in forests
away from the demon car
in farms when we might share some grub
put down for those there
when you get desperate to find some food
it really drives you spare

and when you get to a town somewhere
and you see the humans who
are going about their business
some just don’t see you
someone might open a can
and feed you for that day
but most just scream and shout at you
and you have to run a way

holed up in a church yard
in a vehicle that’s been dumped
in boarded houses empty offices
actually I’ve jumped
up and through a broken window
to get out of the cold
it makes one feel so uncomfortable
it reminds me of when I rolled

in the snow with the children
but quickly got by the fire
but they are only memories
I have a big truck tyre
I sometimes go and sleep in
its outside in a yard
the problem is there’s a bloody dog
there always he’s on guard
loose and so I have to watch it
I creep in late at night
and hope to god he doesn’t hear me
for he’d soon put out my light

broken legs are the problem
induced by some vile troll
they come out with their bloody brooms and sticks
and bars the toll
on us strays is significant
we suffer many injuries and we
really then all go down hill
and most peg out in a few weeks
the shock alas does kill

we are a strays
an army of us wanders here and there
from being very happy
we soon find true despair
we hate the winter months of course
when everything is white
and frozen all the ponds the bird baths
and we have to fight

our corner every single moment
hopeful of a break
some warm food put down for us
or even some old stale cake
we do get into dustbins
around the back of stores
competing with the rats and cats
and really scores and scores
of roaches that frequent those dumps
but beggars cannot choose
if we are lucky then we are lucky
otherwise we lose

so anything you can do for us
even a warm smile
helps us on our way sometimes
to get through another mile
hopeful we can find some friends
who will help us for an hour
with a little food and water
to inject is us some power

think long and hard my beauties
in the warmth of your sweet homes
remember on those cold dark nights
the stray one how he combs
the forest and the bare streets
hopeful for a kill
competing with the crows that fly
sharing the blood spill

I have to now be honest though
euthanasia comes
sometimes some of us get picked up
that how I’ve lost some chums
they go away and are never seen again
gassed may be they
get sent to the rainbow bridge
or to summer lands some say