Tunes on the Streets

Bobby Day and his mongrel Minnie

Sat on the sidewalk to earn a penny

A good ol' song, a tin can for money

For worldly possessions he had not many

Ellie played guitar at the next street corner

No one stopped they all rushed past her

Fingers on string they strummed even faster

For a cup of tea to make herself warmer

The ladies and gents of wealth and gentry

Whisking past in a race to plenty

High street glamour and all its pleasantry

To this side of life they had no entry

Dry bread for lunch more scraps for supper

At McDonald's they watched the young ones cluster

The fat, the starch the sugar then the doctor

Diabetes for them and for others just hunger

A hundred wars, disasters world over

Recession they say is the latest tormentor

Two pounds for a child and three for a tiger

But the tunes on the streets go on for longer

© Kamalika Jayathilaka

Art by Geoffrey Palmer (www.innsbruckacademy.org)