(“The Big Issue” is a fortnightly magazine whose sales give a hand-up – not a handout – to the homeless and the unemployed who sell it on the streets of most major cities in the nation.)
On street corners vendors cry “Big Issue” selling here. Buy! It’s a full-packed publication
Full of issues of the nation.”
“It’s a steal at just five dollars,” My own favourite vendor hollers. It is, with news that’s topical, And issues philosophical,
Social and political,
And don’t forget environmental. There’s music, art, and movies, too, And poetry to interest you.
There’s articles that are confronting, Profound, provocative, or haunting; Tales of survival and of hardship, Tales of courage and of mateship; Or you have a chance of choosing Articles that are amusing.
The vendors have their tales to tell As on the streets their wares they sell. If you have a favourite vendor
In your city, on some corner,
You will know the friendly smile, And the chit-chat all the while,
And possibly you’ll know his story, (Or hers), although they’ll tell it humbly.
But if you’re elsewhere in the nation, You can still buy this publication.
If you can’t find it on some street,
You don’t have to own defeat.
You can take out a subscription
To this newsy publication.
Then when you’re back in your home town, You can share the mag. Around.