A Night in the Alley (1990)


Hated Uncles at 1150 Club – March 28, 1992 – Toronto, ON

Homeless man under bench - drawing by Harvey Dog

the scent of dead piss
alone in an alley
broken bottles
jagged edges
acute to the touch

(a dog’s yelping
permeates
the dead air)

C –
I heard a child crying
then I realized
that child – that child was me!

shaking
like he hasn’t had a drink
for 2 whole days,
he tilts
the bottle
to his lips
and the poison
penetrates his system.

(blood transfusion
falls to concrete
kisses cement)

C

red cement
where his lips
graze the ground,
his mind fades
and all
thoughts
become

(blank
empty
dead)

C


Notes

  • One of only a few songs we carried over from the 1992 Hated Uncles to the reformed 1997 Hated Uncles.
  • A song that usually resulted in yours truly dropping to my knees or falling or standing on a chair…doing something like that.
  • This was a poem that I transformed into a lyric for the band. I loved what the band did with it! The band brought the lyric alive.
  • An Uncle favourite of mine.

Written: 1990


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