10:52am
Slumped in a corner
Front door kicked in with no warning
Who said urban living was boring
Mum’ll sort it in the morning
They wouldn’t tell me why I got pulled
In my pj’s, slippers and no socks
Rumours swirling a kid on the block got shanked
Phil Schofield’s voice ringing out as I’m pushed out the door-shaped hole.
“Fuck off 5-0” screams a neighbour
I smile wryly, not wanting any favours
Handcuffs click like knuckles cracking
Will be telling me solicitor later
Gagging for a cigarette
I ask the cop if he’d allow it
Laughs in my face, kisses his teeth
Dignity vanishing faster than they smashed my door
A small child stares out his window at me
Fear and pain in his eyes, maybe the future
I glance over then look down at the streets
Is this my fate? Weekly visit to the pigpen?
Not sure this is the life for me
I contemplate as I’m lead down the steps
Three kids, another on the way
Adoring girlfriend predictably distressed
“Fuck this life”, the motto on my chest
Didn’t even get chance to get dressed
How can I chat up that fit desk sergeant
if I don’t look my best?
Civil rights, racial tension
Tell that shit to someone who listens
The man squeezing my arm is deaf
There’s no such thing as contrition
Wish I could’ve been a doctor
But the suit didn’t fit
9-5 are alien numbers to me
So on my sofa I sit
Fastforward to the next day
Told them I didn’t do that kid in
Released without charge
Looks like they found another black face to fit the bill
Sat watching the news on a Thursday noon
Turns out the kid who died was someone I knew
Now I’m at his funeral but years have passed
That kid staring out his window couldn’t last
Turns out he grew up to be just like me
Career criminal, influenced by what we see
Now I’m old and he’s in a box
Another forgotten boy from the block.