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