Lost Souls Poem by SPC Kellaway

James finds his way through dark icy roads
Deep in his thoughts of long lost happiness
Two years on the streets, his birthday approaches
Soon to be fifteen on a lonely Christmas Day
Older in mind than he will ever become
He has seen the darkness in too many eyes
The peace that he seeks avoids his path
He finds his quarry in a desolate doorway
A desperate man with a loathsome need
In a brief five minutes that seems like an hour
The boy walks away with silent tears
Clutching the money so tight in his hand
His young shoulders carrying the world
How much longer can he bear the weight?
Near the hostel where the light shines bright
Two wait in silence like vultures of the dark
They sense his presence before he appears
And in his weakened state he has no fight
They flee the scene with just 5 golden coins
Torn from his hand as his life drains away
He becomes a statistic on an ER file
Another runaway for the inside pages
A forgotten name in a forgetful world
We will never remember him
Happy Christmas?