By Tom Delahunt, the #hobopoet

The future is pouring in, drop by drop. It’s already here in the shape of Elon Musk’s robots, automated taxis, and self-driving buses. The thought of our slow descent into a narcissistic, materialist reality makes me oddly content, as though I’m standing in the rain, watching a dystopia I’ve always dreamed of unfold. Perhaps it’s the Blade Runner in me—the part that longs for the melancholy of neon-lit streets, the cold detachment from the complexity of human interaction.

I find myself ready to embrace the AI world, to live a life distant from the frailty of human emotions. There’s something comforting in the simplicity of machines. They don’t question, they don’t falter—just like the #hobopoet wandering through the ruins, observing, detached, but still there, still alive. It’s not that I’ve given up on people. Quite the opposite. I adore the dance of oratory, the beauty of human creativity, like Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game. But it’s fleeting, isn’t it? A hermit’s soul, torn between the yearning for solitude and the deep appreciation for what people can create, even as they destroy themselves.

This duality, the love-hate relationship with humanity, is at the core of my next book, Whispers from the Waiting Room. It’s a pained love note from one nurse to another, scribbled in the silent chaos of a hospital ward. Nurses stand at the gate of life and death, trauma addicts in their own way, bound by the role of advocate and caretaker. The title captures that intimate, desperate space where we live, as though we’re whispering to each other in the few moments we have before the next crisis calls us. It’s a truth too few see—that the nurse’s role is the greatest of all, not because of the heroism we’re so often labelled with, but because we are the ones who stand as witnesses, keepers of stories, at the edge of existence.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/whispers-from-the-waiting-rooms

In The Wandering Lamb, my first book, the image of the lamb stuck in the mud or tangled in a bush is more than a metaphor—it’s the emotional truth of where we are. Society, in its desperation for entertainment and distraction, has sunk into a hollow, where we value sport and spectacle far above health or education. I love sport, I’m as captivated by technology as anyone, but it’s hard to deny that we’ve got it very, very wrong. We’ve built a world where we reward the trivial and neglect the vital.

It reminds me of Idiocracy, that film once seen as a satire, but now feeling painfully prophetic. Global intelligence seems to be shrinking, not expanding, and we’re living in our own idiom—a world where intelligence and compassion are sidelined, where convenience Trumps connection.

So where does that leave us? The #hobopoet watches, revels in the rain, and writes. Not to solve anything, but to capture the moments before we’re fully submerged. In the end, maybe all that’s left is the dance—the oratory, the creation—and the quiet river where we drift, half-removed, witnessing the demise we’ve chosen………..

But wait there is hope…

Part 2: “The Red Thread and the Road to un – Knowing”

But in the heart of this dystopia, in the rising flood of disconnection and technological detachment, there’s a red thread woven through it all—a map, a gift, for those willing to trace its path. I, the #hobopoet, hold that thread, not for myself but for others. Much like mathematicians who leave subtle clues for those dedicated enough to follow, or the great writers who offer hidden gifts to the attentive reader, I, too, am forming a guide. It is for those who want to move through this world with eyes open, those who seek something deeper than the flashing screens and burning streets.

I have my own children, and like many parents, I fear for their future. The roles awaiting them in this ever-complex world seem limited to false promises and disintegrating ideals—streets lined with broken bodies, bookshelves crowded with golden-haired buffoons. Yet, in the same breath, I trust the map, the thread that I’m weaving, not just for them but for others. There is more to this world than the lies we’re told, more than the facade of disconnected realities. And as one with a hidden disability, I live in this disconnection daily—a part of me visible to the world, while the greater reservoir of my knowing remains submerged, quiet, waiting.

In many ways, we are all living in this divide. The death of the Jungian archetype, the image of a rising lake of discontent—it grips us all. But for me, there’s joy in this. I’ve come to know the dance of the anima and animus, the push and pull between who we are and who we’re meant to be. It’s a gift, this hidden mind, this strange perspective, because it positions me at the threshold. I stand between the world of knowing and unknowing, like a guardian at the gates to the Mines of Moria, or perhaps like a traveller resting under the Two Trees of Valinor, caught between light and shadow. There’s something liberating about it, about not knowing your full role in this world yet, but still trusting that the red thread will lead the way.

Maybe my role is that of a recluse, a poetic wanderer who quietly observes from the margins. Or maybe it’s something bigger—an agent of societal change through enlightened reasoning and unlearning. The #hobopoet exists in these in-between spaces, neither fully seen nor fully hidden, like the door to the mines of the dwarfs, waiting for the right phrase to be spoken to open. Or like sitting in the Shire, sharing in silence with Elves who see far beyond the immediacy of human concerns. This life, this role, is a dance of coming to know.

Rejections are never easy, but they are part of the journey. I recently received news that my manuscript wasn’t accepted for publication. Despite the sting, I’m reminded that each “no” is an invitation to deepen, refine, and return with renewed clarity. Research, after all, is not merely an accumulation of findings but a nuanced exploration—an intricate, sometimes anecdotal dance with both failure and resilience.

The sadness is real, yet held alongside a stoic commitment to my work’s purpose: exploring trauma, healing, and the delicate spaces they reveal in human experience. This setback, while disheartening, has only strengthened my resolve, and I feel profoundly grateful for the many voices who responded with encouragement. Many of them—people I deeply respect—stand at the coalface of this work, their “lungs scarred” yet their spirits unwavering. Like Durin in The Lord of the Rings, they dig deeply, knowing that to confront the darkness below is to risk awakening the Balrog. Still, they persist, sacrificing comfort, even self, for the sake of others.

To all fellow researchers who find themselves in these shadowed places, let us continue with resilience and purpose. Our setbacks are part of a larger story, and with each failure, we edge closer to the light that guides our path.

And what I do know is this: on Friday, I’ll be visiting my quiet space at The Quiet View, where the world falls away, and all that’s left is the wind, the trees, and the silence. I’ll bring my stick, and my new book on tree lore, because something within me compels me to. Do I know why I feel this compulsion? No. Do I care? Not really. Because the red thread continues to pull me, even when I don’t understand its direction, and I trust that it’s leading me somewhere meaningful.

So, in this world of falsehoods and broken promises, I hold onto that red thread, weaving it into the fabric of my work, my poems, and the map I leave behind. It’s not an answer, but a question—a journey, an invitation for others to join me in this dance of knowing and unknowing. The #hobopoet is not just a witness to the crumbling of the old world but a guide, ready to help others navigate the new, strange one that’s emerging.

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Billington, P., 2021. Green Paths: The Soul’s Journey Through Nature. Oxford: Mythic Press.

Dass, R., 1971. Be Here Now. New York: Crown Publishing Group.

Hesse, H., 1943. The Glass Bead Game. London: Vintage.

Judge, M., 2006. Idiocracy [Film]. Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox.

Jung, C.G., 1968. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Ridley Scott, R., 1982. Blade Runner [Film]. Los Angeles: Warner Bros. also credited with the image 1

Rubin, R., 2022. The Creative Act: A Way of Being. New York: Penguin Press.

Tolkien, J.R.R., 1954. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. London: George Allen & Unwin.