[Vintage54]

                                  Cinderella men 1936

                     Frozen feet were stamping
                     Neath the bridge where they were camping
                     A cruel eastern wind was throwing knives
                     And on the wall was showing
                     Projected by the campfire glowing
                     In shadows, the sad story of their lives

                     Bill moved his hands and feet
                     A little closer to the heat
                     And turned his eyes towards his good pal Jim
                     He was shivering in his clothes
                     The cold dripping from his nose
                     And his weather beaten face was wearing thin

                     "Cheer up Jim" he said
                     "Theres a brighter day ahead"
                     Anything to keep his hopes alive
                     "Without the Devils hand or Gods
                     We can still defeat these odds
                     Just like the cinderella man in thirty five"

                     Nothing left to spend now only time
                     Millions like em waiting round in line

                     Every working door they tried
                     To get a foot inside
                     It was "sorry boys there's nothing i can do"
                     They'd even been to California
                     But were turned round at the border
                     With, "we can do without the likes of you"

                     Neither one of them could feel
                     The remains of their last meal
                     And even that was nothing more than crumbs
                     With Uncle sam up for adoption
                     Self pity was no option
                     For just another pair of luckless railroad bums

                     So they talked and traded tales
                     Of good times before the rails
                     Days when this cockeyed world looked right
                     And for a while around that pot
                     All their troubles were forgot
                     And their laughter echoed deep into the night

                     Nothing left to spend now only time
                     Millions like em waiting round in line

                     They finally bedded down
                     Under paper eiderdown
                     Back to back to keep the cold at bay
                     But with frozen hands and feet
                     It's not so easy to find sleep
                     Or the strength to face another day

                     Bill was first to rise
                     And he swore those eastern knives
                     Were cutting even deeper than before
                     Then he gave his pal a shake
                     And said, "Jim, are you awake
                     Jim was standing on Gods golden shore

                     Jim had finally used up all his time
                     Bill, was still waiting round in line.

[skogge]

Beautiful.

[hardtwistmusic]

Sad reality.  Very nicely done.

[Royston]

Brilliant, very sad but really enjoyed reading this, great write.

Royston

[Paulski]

Hi Vintage

It's a great read - your talents for turn-of-phrase shine again.
I'm a dumb Canadian though - I googled "Cinderella men" and apart from the boxing movie nothing came up- is there some significance to that phrase I'm missing?

cheers
Paul

[lillypilly]

This is another one of your great writes

"They finally bedded down
Under a paper eiderdown"

Just so Vintage

[Vintage54]

        Thanks everyone, for the kind remarks. Paulski, the cinderella man was indeed the boxer James Braddock. He rose from poverty in the thirties, to take the heavyweight championship of the world when no one gave him a chance, hence the nickname. He became the peoples champion, and was seen as an inspiration for millions of working class poor during the depression. I was really struggling for a title for this song, in fact it was the last thing to come. The idea being that all those poor folk were cinderellas, and fighters, though very few made it to the ball. The movie is also worth checking out.

                                      Vintage54

[tomcrocus]

Hello vintage,
                   you've got the knack of painting great pictures
with your words,amazing,
                                    tom.

[shortwhat]

Genuinely loved this. made me upset in a very useful and almost enjoyable way, you managed to tell a heartbreaking story in a short 200 words or so, when most authors would need thousands. Top notch!