Bradford Middleton- Three Poems

MEMORIES OF YOU

All I see when I look around is you

You’re everywhere and nowhere all at once

But as I sit here alone all I can see is memories

You and our brief little time together

That I wish I remember better

But whatever happened with you it was one hell of a ride

A ride that took us through infatuation

Desire, lust and the inevitable

The break-up came at a real bad time

I was up to my head in trouble

That was years ago now but still

You are here and I wish you’d never gone

But all you are now is a memory

A moment in time that is a bit hazy

Due to all the drink and drugs we took

But to move on I got to get you out of my head

I moved from the city to escape the places

I changed my life to be a better boy

No more Billy or Charlie for me I said

Just the plain old drink and pot of yore

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BEING ME

Walking these streets with no thoughts in my mind

Round and round I stroll

Not sure why or where I need to go

Got no money for a drink or minor distraction

So onward I plough

Through these streets that have nothing for me

Round this way all you get are shops

Places I can’t afford to enter

And with no desire to peer through the windows

At the over-priced tat that gets some excited

To me they ain’t anything but a waste of life

A clothes horse is all they are

When they look at me I am nothing in their eyes

Just the rag-tag mess that is being me

The same way it’s been for as long as I dressed myself

Since that glorious moment when I knew who I was

And never felt the need to worry about fitting in

The latest trends and all those styles have passed me by

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EXISTENCE ON THE EDGE

There are people in my life who are doing their best

To push me to the edge and see what will happen

Work is killing me with everyday and I don’t care

About what they do as the work is easy but

The people I relied upon to help me out are now

Just not being there for me

I have a new friend, a truly lovely friend but

He’ll be gone soon off to a place I can’t afford

Another one may well get banged up whilst

Yet another has moved to the out-skirts of town

Round here now the only people to be happy to see

Me are bar-owners up and down our St Jimmy’s Street

They rejoice when I walk in as a good night is promised

I have nothing else to do but write and live this

Life that has become all my own

I talk to my parents more than ever but I

Only get to see them once a year and

I miss them probably most of all

In this town now there are people I miss but

They no longer seem to miss me which is bad

As they edge me out towards a lonely distressed

State that feels like it will never end

Not in this town or maybe just simply

In this life