All my friends are ‘Winos’ and I’m a ‘Wino’ too,
I hanker after spirits and I like what ‘winos’ do.
When I was young, I saw them, sprawled about the town;
To hear intoxicated humour; beside them I’d sit down.
Funny words from bloated faces through dirt infested hair;
People kept their distance to avoid them lying there.
But they were my heroes, to be known and adored,
And I joined them in their folly, so as not to be ignored.
I hunkered down along with them as the Public hurried by;
Sometimes to curse and rip and roast at anyone I’d spy.
At the tender age of sixteen I was on my murky merry way;
The ‘Devil’s Brew’ beckoning me every night and day.
Years of youth have passed me by in the foulness of my taste;
Against all my companions I am the most debased.
With matted hair and soiled clothes, I stagger down the street,
And get a kick in horror shown from those I chance to meet.
But my money is as good as any other, whenever I buy drink;
The fellow puts it in his till no matter how I stink.
Then if you look, you’ll find me in the centre of the town,
An affront to society; sometimes playing the clown.
I don’t give a damn about anyone and they don’t care for me;
Someday I’ll die; maybe not waken up; and that’s the way it’ll be.
If you think my rhyme distasteful and jaundiced in its view,
Let it not disguise the fact; every word of it is true!
Monty Alexander 2.2.03