The Priest

I am on my way to the Salvation Army, see if I can get something to eat

I'm skint and I don't know a soul

On the street, where the Sally Army is, I am approached by two guys

"D'you want to buy any gear?" I am asked

"What sort of gear?"

"Skag, smack ma'am"

"Nah, no thanks, it's not my thing"

"What about crack then?"

"Nah, not my thing either", I reply

"Spice?''

"No''

"What about a drink then eh?"

"Nah", I reply

"I'm not drinking at the minute, got stuff to sort"

"What? Are you a fuckin' vicar?"

Laughing, they make their way onwards leaving me to scrounge a bit of breakfast at the Sally Army.

The following day, I am on my way to another place that provides food for homeless people

I come across the same two guys

They see me and one says to the other

"Watch out! It's the priest!"

They stand in a prayer stance

I look 'round, there is no priest

"Arite Priest"

One of the guys says to me as I make it to the doorway of the free food place

They're takin' to me

"Arite", I reply and make my way to the door in full realisation that I had been on the streets of this city for four days and I had already been tagged.

Maybe I had a street name, "Priest"

Sleeping rough is a dangerous thing

People spend their nights awake.

Me, well I try not to worry too much about it

If someone grabs me at night and kills me to death, maybe not a bad thing

Not that I would welcome it, I just don't want to think about it too much

Guy comes along to where we are sleeping, another fucking visitor

He's about 25/30 years old, from Coatbridge and he's well 'refreshed'

His mates have ditched him, he's missed his train home and he wants to talk

I want to sleep

Gonna be a long night

"Watch out! It's the priest!"

I had been on the streets of this city and I don't know a soul

"Watch out! It's the priest!"

"Arite there pal, what you doin' here?"

"Tryin to sleep"

"I've missed ma train n ma pals huv all fucked off n uv got naewhere tae kip

You homeless then?"

Yes, ''Yep"

"You look oot ay it," he says. "Are ye kitted up?"

"No, I am just very tired and it's after two in the morning"

"I hud a bit 'o' coke earlier on"

Oh, for fuck's sake!

It's gonna be a long night

"Watch out! It's the priest!"