21 November 2012
Safety pins on black fabric
Jackets pulled around cold arms
Icy breeze around concrete walls
Pieces of carpet tossed on the floor
Graffiti'd murals, mortar slabs
Heavy wooden desks and chairs
Grey, grimy, damp, dark
Rooms too huge to be heated
Paint pots scattered underfoot
Easels and brushes and palettes
Weary strokes of the brush
Creating forced works for cash
Faces set in despair and fear
Relying on others to help
Guilt and sorrow as they struggle
Head in hands in the middle of the night
Open eyes, sudden realisation
Of what should be plain to see
Carrying everything away from this
Seeing sunlight on brickwork
Safety pins in red blood
Jackets dragged through the dirt
Sudden gale past concrete pillars
Secrets buried under the floor for good.
Ordeal • Opuss № I