Room Vacant.(Poem)

 
ROOM VACANT 
 
   He'd been here for just on twenty years, 
   And had the little far room down behind. 
   At times you might pass him on the stairs 
   But otherwise he hardly crossed your mind. 
 
   The one continuing sign of him you saw 
   Was the crate of his empties out the back. 
   They'd clear them away and leave it bare, 
   Then steadily there'd grow another stack. 
 
   One way or another he'd earned a crust, 
   And the lodgings and the liquor were cheap. 
   For all those years he'd had a roof, at least, 
   Had scraped along with just himself to keep. 
 
   And yet time and the demons, undeterred, 
   Were ever nudging him towards his fate. 
   Increasingly unkempt and hollow-eyed, 
   He learnt the tender mercies of the state. 
 
   How casually they cut him off the dole 
   In line with some punitive little scheme, 
   The routine combing-out of those unable 
   To jump through the hoops of their regime ... 
 
   We noticed no more empties out the back 
   And understood what anguishes it meant. 
   The landlord was giving the guy a break 
   By not confronting him about ...