Nightscape

Nightscape

Our footsteps echo, bounce between hollowed empty buildings

and lose themselves again in deserted door-wells

deep darkened gaps, missing teeth in a broken smile

before being borne away by the bustling, scudding wind,

rattling metal shutters, matrix security grilles

the eyelids of unkempt, un-lit windows

of long-locked abandoned shops

The cold creeps into us, bitter chill biting finger-ends,

hurrying us along, despite ourselves, scurrying and scuttling rat-like

through unloved empty streets, cracked paving stones,

broken kerbs and gutters of dirty un-swept sidewalks,

pools of stagnant water snagging flapping sheets of greasy newspapers

hiding random dirt and rubbish

And night-time window-shows, bright shopping mall displays

flashing harsh allurements in a piercing clash of neon

reflected in the roadway sheen

shielding the shabbiness of pound stores and bookies,

amusement arcades and charity shops, cash-for-gold pawn-brokers

and unpopulated pubs and clubs

Yet somehow something stirs, unbidden flashes of former lively streets

nostalgia for what once was - no longer deaf, dumb and blind,

no longer worn and beaten down, but a town that lived and breathed

memories of a better past

Copyright Andy Fawthrop 2017