Euston Station

Cherry

By Ewan

Mon, 25 Dec 2017
  • 1593 reads
8 comments
 

Did you see? No trains today.

Just 200 “invitees”, the man said.

A splendidly patronising day

of Christmas Cheer and Charity,

as if Scrooge’s Damascus moment

had lasted but a single day.

 

Will they move on?

Without the (german) shepherds

at their back?

 

What time is chucking out time?

Is there a platform

where the desperate may huddle?

After 23.59,

one minute to midnight,

the clock will chime and

the coaches parked at every

platform will transmogrify

into pumpkins.

 

Tomorrow, for some,

the street will yet again be home.

Not for all,

others will return to last night’s shelter.

The names were taken,

all were on a list,

the listless ones

will spend tomorrow

in doorways

or at the underpass

not at Euston Station.

 

Just like yesterday.

 

Two hundred,

of how many on

Ralph’s streets?

Take yourself by the hand,

please.

 

Certificate U
Poem
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I know. And people trying to get in who didn't have tickets were turned away by 'heavy security presence'

 

Submitted by Ewan on

that wasn't reported on the BBC news later in the day... Like sticking plaster on a slit throat, no use at all.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Bang on, mate! For one day a year we're urged to think of others. Tokenism nicely noted. Hurrah!

Parson Thru

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

200 is better than 0 but Euston Station is big and then there is Paddington, Waterloo etc. Next year how about 'feeding the 5,000'. And January brings colder weather than December... Housing matters too and London must have piles of empty houses and flats, and also shops, offices and warehouses where businesses have collapsed. In a fair world keys would be handed over.

 A bit of 'surface niceness' to give us the TV viewers and newspaper readers that Christmas feelgood and no it's not enough.

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Yep. I agree.

Parson Thru

Submitted by catherine poarch on

I didn't know much about this. Certainly not that people were turned away. Yes, there's empty buildings in Bristol too and probably every town and city. What a criminal waste. And money shot up into space in the name of exploration when people are starving. Good poem, Ewan, thank you.

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

When accommodation becomes a tradable commodity, we shouldn't expect anything else. Someone somewhere (Clement Attlee) said that charity is cold and uncaring. If you want to help people, pay your taxes. The rich have never given anything for anyone; they've only ever had it taken from them. In Britain in 2017, we've forgotten that, hypnotised by media owned by the rich and a mass entertainment industry that rubs the noses of the poor in the dirt whilst commodifying and getting rich from "poor" and "coloured" culture. I'm talking, of course, about US hegemony. This country is becoming increasingly like an enclave of the US. To me, the Euston thing and its sentimental reporting is a stunt. Sorry Ewan. That was a hijack. Feel free to delete.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Ewan on

Yes, the unashamed PR-shallowness of the intial item of the news. In fairness to the interviewer, they did try to pin the spokesperson down

"What about tomorrow, what plans do you have for the rest of the year?"

"We'll be planning throughout the year for next Christmas"

That may not quite be verbatim, but it's bloody near.
I almost threw something at the telly.

It's "better than nothing" is a cop-out.

Ha! Pay taxes. St Bono and Pope Bob might try that too.
Grrr.

Author Page at the 'Zon