Vincent (Starry Starry Night)

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity how you tried to set them free
They would not listen they did not know how, perhaps they'll listen now

The last exit of frustration: a sigh, was the only sound I could manage. No words known to me could adequately depict how he and his life had got to me. The simple Vincent- commonly seen as a gentle weathered, but not by age, face in a hazy fog of dead beats and forgotten souls. As his words washed over me with the full impact that I couldn�t grasp at the time- at the time were just paranoid ramblings of someone who had been exposed to too much grief and betrayals- I was in awe of him.

In the background, with the shadows he tried to bring help. He was one of them, a restless spirit who gave up on convention because of the frustrations it brought to someone like him. His history was shrouded in guarded mistrust, but I pieced together a few details and came up with a not so pretty picture. His childhood was typical of someone like him, he wasn�t understood, it's a common ailment that affects different people in different ways, for Vincent it drove him away from the people around him. At the first opportunity he escaped to a large anonymous city, the kind that held more mysteries than truths, where every darkened street corner held and offering.

He started off small- beaten and battered ladies of the night. Sometimes they didn�t wan the help of a kid on a mission but the more time he spent around them they couldn�t but be charmed, but that wasn't enough; he couldn�t offer an alternative so they got in the cars and drove off. This frustrated him so much. The next couple of years were a blur, I don't know how he managed when he cut off all ties with his childhood. It definitely had an impact.

He stepped up the operation- finding a volunteer homeless shelter he quickly settled into the every day routine of tears. However many people came through the doors, subconsciously looking for help, Vincent could never get used to or harden himself to their anguish. It broke his heart every time they got scared and ran away. They were forever lost in the maze of the city scum.

He, in his soul, knew how to help them, knew he could set them free from their binds and chains. They didn't have the courage, and didn�t stay around long enough to borrow some of Vincent's.
�Kiandra Riley & Jennifer Sillars 2004