The Hard Slog

Dad! I want to leave home

I’m hard done by here and feel the urge to roam

Hard done by you say! Is that what you think?

My Boy! I would say that your life’s in the pink

So what if your Mum and Dad once in a while

Descend heavy handed to cramp your lifestyle

You have a nice home where we live in the park

There’s absence of traffic; you’re safe in the dark

All right! So our house is bereft of a telly

But never of good grub to fill up your belly

You have a soft bed to sleep in at night

Six brothers and sisters to cuddle you tight

So when it gets cold as the winter takes grip

You’ll value these things when you take your long kip

Now I, On the other hand, have good cause to grouse

Raised on the streets of New York in a house

Where bumper to bumper the traffic ran riot

I swear there was never a time it was quiet

Just crossing the road was a dangerous act

Something my parents found out on impact

I stood on the sidewalk and cried my heart out

Very cold, terrified and too scared to shout

In that instant of time I could tell fate had dealt

All her aces which showed me how loneliness felt

I stayed there for hours not wanting to leave

Unknowing if this was my last chance to grieve

But as the night came; flashing lights lit the place

A gusting cold breeze blew a tear from my face

I perceived it was time to move from Times Square

And headed for Broadway to seek solace there

It was while trudging north that I made them my vow

Swore no matter how long or how hard; I’d somehow

Find a safe place to go where a home I could make

That had green open spaces, tall trees and a lake

All through that winter I walked on Broadway

I travelled by night and holed up through the day

It seemed like a lifetime I’d followed this course

Never sleeping a wink; heart full of remorse

Till the day came along when Nirvana was spied

The place I had pledged them to find when they died

With my long search complete; I could start a new life

Settle down, build a home, then find me a wife

With my bare hands I fashioned this mini mock Tudor

So we could live safely, free from intruder

So son! I would say you have no cause to grumble

For having strict parents in a house which is humble

Oh Father I promise I’ll not leave the nest

Your tale has convinced me that home is the best

To move from this place that you sought in such pain

Will never come up as a subject again

For my mind is made up that its here I must stay

A city that never sleeps is no place

For a hedgehog to stray

Sleep tight Dad see you in the spring

~~~~~

(Please note: I cannot take the credit for this poem, it was written by a friend. However, the picture is one I took outside Central Park)