Ragbone is a poem written by James Hogg, a graduate of the University of Sunderland. He has remained actively involved in the Spectral Visions community
I pull my cart through the streets
unnoticed by those who pass by
as I collect the unwanted detritus
from the households that would shun the invisible.
Beneath the rags and neglected trappings of society,
are the bones of the unwary
and those who have strayed too far.
The walk may be long but the night is mine;
as I see her I watch beneath her window,
as she stands in the candlelight
…..I wait.
.Soon she must placate the world
self absorbed and filled with grandiose ego
as she takes to the streets
to attend society’s crystalline ideal of immortality.
I know full well that she must pass my place of solitude,
with most expedient efficiency,
I will fall upon her and extol myself.
There is so much disaffection in her being,
for I have remained disquiet too long,
silenced by her belligerence,
in favour of the moral ground.
I shall chew her fingers to the bone
and make music of her screams,
as I make use of a rag, to stifle
and end any notion of quixotic nature.
Now the good that was within
is now gone truly forever
for it is easy for those with highbrow means,
to overlook the good, in place of the bad
and place the villain within sight.
