Hopeless
Flat-faced
houses look out
On strangers passing by;
The pavement feet away,
The road beyond.
A bus
trundles past,
Indifferent passengers
Gaze, glassy-eyed,
Noting nothing.
A to B,
B to C;
Endless journey,
Soulless.
Drugs, poverty,
Despair, fear;
No job, no hope,
No life.
Did you write that poem yourself Janice? I never realised that Berkshire was that bad.
ReplyDeleteThis is so very sad, what has the world come to? Or perhaps this is just the day-to-day drudgery of commuting between work and home?
ReplyDeleteCertainly is bleak.
ReplyDeleteHumans were designed for more community interaction and support than many of us don’t get in this society.
ReplyDeleteWe are living with trump and his goons- this poem actually cheered me up. Perspective, I guess.
ReplyDeleteReading this makes me extra grateful that I have all that - a job, hope, and a life. And so much more!
ReplyDeleteVery bleak. I love sitting on a bus looking out. In those circumstances however, no job, no future you're going to see life very differently. Very sad
ReplyDeleteOh dear, that's 'cheerful' reading for first thing on a Friday!
ReplyDeleteWell done, really sums up things for some - a picture of sad times.
Your poem captures a stark urban desolation, where monotony and marginalisation compress human existence into a bleak, mechanised drift from one empty waypoint to the next.
ReplyDeleteSo much sadness in that poem
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand ...🤫
ReplyDeleteI think this is how many people view the world in which we live these days. I count my blessings for all I have.
ReplyDeleteI get this
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
there are far to many that face this in their lives and the poem says it all. those of us who have hope should step up to give hope to those that have none.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful
ReplyDeleteWe are living in some very sad times....BUT, God...thankful for HOPE!
ReplyDeleteSad, but very nicely done.
ReplyDeletethank you, Gretchen Sunshine.
ReplyDeleteIt's like a Hopper painting in a poem. Flat and bleak and hopeless. Kris in Ohio
ReplyDeleteI could feel the emptiness and monotony of the streets, and the way you convey despair without needing to explain it is powerful. Thank you for sharing such raw emotion so beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI just shared the first post for the Movement Link-Up, and you can start entering from today:
https://www.melodyjacob.com/2026/02/first-movement-link-up.html
I can’t wait to see your post and link up so we can all read each other’s work and keep moving.
A perfect word picture of depression, beautifully crafted.
ReplyDeleteHugs x
Sadness in your poem, but these words ring true in too many areas of the UK.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
So descriptive, can't help wanting to know the story behind the story.
ReplyDeleteThat's very sad.
ReplyDeleteWhen we rode trains I loved the little glimpses of inside people's houses as we flew by them in the dark. Who were they? What were they like. I imagined very happy little lives for them. Your poem made me sad.
ReplyDeleteThank you, everyone, especially CJ who made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI wrote this after watching a particularly depressing UK documentary, the misery of which stayed with me long after the programme finished.
How and why do so many people 'fall through the cracks' of life?