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
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