arrive in the windy city last night

this morning i stumble out n walk these mean streets

folks its fucking cold out there

freezing numbing dirty cold

so i swan into starbucks for my soy oatmeal my soy banana shake

my soy fucking latte with a double shot of caffeine because i’m a greedy bastard

yeah i’m looking pretty good aint i?

the girls behind the counter like my accent

i tell a few jokes

oooh youre a singer too theyre saying

ooh you gotta lovely voice i can hear it just talking to ya they say

i have my food n drink

i feel pretty snazzy

i gotta another possible sellout show tonite n i feel big

i feel kinda vindicated or something

i catch sight of myself in the mirror

stupid clothes for winter i guess

my face is looking a bit crumpled

my hair is a bit finer n thinner than it used to be

but i still feel quite fascinated looking at my stupid face in the window

the girls behind the counter are still flirting with me a bit

eventually with a nice full belly

i stroll outta there into the cold

feeling like quite the big shot

then

i hear a voice coming from a pile of dirty snow

are you warm enough honey dressed like that?

there sits an old lady

i guess shes around my own mothers age (about 80!)

i tell her i got thermal underwear on

and i squat down n start talking to her

she is not drunk nor has she been drinking

she is not suffering from dementia or any other mental problems

(as far as i can tell)

she is if anything quite dreamy

she sits there all huddled up in blankets n stuff

our breath turning to steam as we talk

we talk about thermal underwear

we talk about australia and england

we talk about the 2nd world war in which her husband fought

she does not smell

she does not ask me for money

she is lucid she is gently witty chiding me for my poor choice of clothes

eventually 10 minutes in this fucking frozen hell is all i can take

i stand up to leave

i fish round in my pocket n find a fiver

here you go i say

oh thanks honey now i’ll get something to eat she says

i fish round in my coat pocket some more

i got 800 bucks in cash cos i just got my wages the other day

i fucking give her a hundred

are you sure honey are you sure you can afford it?

yeah i’m sure i say

i say what you gonna do with it…?

she sticks it in some pocket somewhere

well you never know when you gonna be needing some money honey she says

i bend down n kiss her frozen pale cheek

good luck i say n i slip n slide off down the street

god bless you honey she says as i walk off to my warm hotel room with its blah blah blah

cmon people

what the fuck!

this aint about republicans n democrats

you had em both n still this …this treatment of old people

a fucking disgrace

one fucking smart bomb would pay for a thousand of these people to at least have a warm room

we should all be ashamed

all of us!

and god must be fucking weeping to look down on it

it sure took the wind outta my fucking sails

imagine if it was your own mother ……

sk deeply saddened

chicago winter 2011……