Urban Decay
This is the dark side of town, there’s no glitz and glamour here
Smack-needles and pimps in BMW’s: windows blacked-out,
The cherry of the Spliff shines through the gap like a star
Prostitutes and crack-addicts fight for the same fag-nubs on the floor outside a bar
The police-car goes; Ne-Nar, Ne-Nar as it speeds past a deal on the corner,
The broken phone-box Illuminated by red flashes of Christmas lights: how urban decay:
A cold December evening won’t stop the Injecting, hustling, bustling, beating, stealing,
And stabbing taking place:
Everyday the same problems policed badly:
Keep the scum in one area; Let them be the death of each other!
Seems to be the general policy,
But what about those who can’t afford to move/Care about their community?
Stuck in solitude; grooving to a soundtrack of rape, robbery and overdose
The boy on the corner dead from badly controlled heroin; 15 years of age—
Tourniquet wrapped around frail arm, Light’s out in a flash as the ambulance arrives:
ANOTHER SMACK-ED DIES, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
The local Newspaper headline says:
And the people believe it, no questions asked: circumstances unconsidered,
As good as a rat in the sewers; A waste of taxpayers money that ambulance!
Always the same reactions, no surprise, no thought outside the box:
This is the dark-side of town, there’s no glitz and glamour here
Reimagining Yeroskipou/Geroskipou (#1 the house)
If I trotted back to
Village sets with feet of
Dust-fetched plumes
Who would recognize
My face, of visitor’s concern?
On sun-engraved verandas
Two decades ago we sat:
My family-tree in persons, generations
Bloomed from Cypriot-blood
Transversed via Britain:
Would that family living
In my memory replacing
My family’s fractured–tree:
Recognize my vine-like presence?
Sprawled-out-in-a-Datsun–hot–seat
Windows open, roof hatchback
And relishing the Salacious-Cypriot-Sunshine
A time, when I had two homes encases mind
A yearning for a flashback of untainted tears
Gained from sour-tasting limes and nectarines,
Burned flesh from Spatchcocked chickens
Portions of Souvlaki: endaxi ray
Ella, ella ray: Papou’s persuasive
Tongue echoes from the disused grill
The shutters on the window
Cascade the cancerous room,
The deathbed: where leukemia held him hostage
The nights and days drew thin
As his disheveled skin: skeletal in comparison
To the stature of a man
Whose image remains untainted: smiling
Don’t let night or dark fool you Papou:
For your memory ascends far beyond these walls

Jamie Thrasivoulou is a writer and performer of Poetry, Spoken Word, and Fictional narratives. His work is often heavily politicized and he writes about identity, class, and discrimination. He also enjoys writing about subjects such as football, music, and alternative-lifestyle-choices. Jamie also hosts Derby’s spoken word and Poetry event: Word Wise, which runs every last Friday from September through June. Follow Jamie on Twitter
September 12, 2016 at 7:06 pm
I like your poetry Jamie. Interesting. I particularly liked the lines; ‘grooving to a soundtrack of rape, robbery and overdose’ and ‘Don’t let night or dark fool you Papou’. Gene Farmer told me about you
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