A walk around the block: A poem 

Like a rain the dust falls 

And settles around the dour walls 

A neighbour’s hello around the corner 

Strewn garbage the street dishonours 

Cars slowly grunt through the narrow lane 

A market trolley, a woman hobnobbing in pain 

A drunk crossing in stupor is at fault 

when he is hit by a vehicle screeching to a halt 

My blood rushes cold on a warm summer noon 

The paramedics arrive very soon 

Passers-by stop to watch the gory sight 

Some sympathise with the driver’s plight 

Walking home, I try to forget the scene 

The guilt of helplessness at what was seen 

My thoughts circumnavigate luck and chance and fate 

And the futility of what we love and what we hate