For eleven days, and sixty miles,
he crawled on hands and knees,
to broadcast visions of loneliness
to those who cannot see.
To Thomas Beckett Shrine he went,
with chocolates on his back,
and a sign that said, ‘could you love me?’
tied up around his neck.
A fine, red rose clenched in his teeth
he carried all the way –
his pilgrimage a gruelling point
for what he had to say.
He started this, as he recalls,
‘to show the world at large,
the truth of loneliness at Christmas,
and the many on the verge.’
People laughed, and people jeered,
but he kept crawling on,
trying to get an uncaring world
to join in with his song.
He started out from London Bridge,
and arrived at Canterbury,
and Canon Diss then welcomed him
as all good pilgrims should be.
Written 09/01/2006. Published in Poetry.com, 2013.
The Night Owl 