Watching

I’m watching from around the corner.
I daren’t stride into view.
I mustn’t expose myself.

I’m watching people’s lives spin out.
Those busy folk content with life.
Only I stand here, still.

I watch them again, poor lad has found them.
Ten minutes I watch, ten minutes it’s over.
He cries and screams till his mam finds him.

Watching this easel, paint been smeared on.
A note to the artist, go easy on the red.
The world is tainted in it.

Please paint a scene better to watch.
Why am I here at this corner?
Why must I stand here alone?

What purpose has my watching?
One day may I look the other way?
Must I see the evil around this corner?

Watching familiar ground,
Watching familiar bad
Where is the opposing good, has it died?

Watching for changes; people don’t change.
I watch a blank canvas;
There is no life to me.