National Adult Literacy Database

February 26, 2001

This poem was written by J.K., from Calgary Alberta.

Street Life

by J.K.

One day I met this fine young man,
Who said, this tip could be paying me -
Damn!
He flashed his great big Rent-a-cars,
and tried to dress, for the day and cause.

He ran the game he knew so well,
I should have told him to go
straight to hell.
But instead I fell.

So there I was on the street,
trying to find another “John” to meet,
No amount of money was enough,
Damn this life was really rough.

Life was bad, and I became very sad,
the drugs were all I really had.
I realized it had to stop.

Then I met a woman named Linda
who took me under her wing.
All of a sudden
I started to sing.

This poem was taken with permission, from a collection of stories written by students at the Calgary John Howard Society, entitled Selected Writings & Activities, page 12.]