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Saturday 21 July 2012

Our Town




We built the town,
we gave the town away
to folk who didn't love
it well enough. We're back
to see how it has fared.

We trailed it like a smile
along the river. Pinned it there,
a church spire at each end,
a pub or two to keep it tight -
but not too tight.
And that was that -
or so we thought.

Since when,
the careless ones
have filled each green
and verdant space
with tenements
like old teeth gritted
stubbornly
behind the smile.

We must give folk
somewhere to live
they would contend - and
that was true enough.

But now decay
has visited the teeth.
Their turn to be unloved,
unlived-in and a prey
for vandals. Only
the graffitists now
will give them
time of day.

11 comments:

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Love 'We trailed it like a smile
along the river.'

In my town decayed teeth have been extracted and replaced with a set of ill-fitting dentures...

I have an upside down smile when I see them...

Anna :o]

kaykuala said...

It has come the full circle. They deserved a break,had their tenement dwellings, left to itself then decaying, except for the usual graffiti - a familiar story,a familiar setting. This can happen anytime in the town. Great observation, Dave!

Hank

ds said...

So sad when that happens--a conundrum not easily solved...

Brian Miller said...

it is pretty sad when all the green space has been taken and filled...i dont know why we need more places when there are more houses than people and still some homeless...

Mary said...

Sad how this happens....so many places have decayed because of lack of care by those who were 'given' these places to care-take. I see it here too.

Leovi said...

People go and transform the city, time and existence ... a deep poem.

Kass said...

Great poem. I just left a comment, but something has changed and it didn't show up so I'm trying again.

Carl said...

A thinker this one. I agree we need our green space to keep our sanity and happiness.

Dave King said...

hyperCRYPTICal
Love the description of your new additions.Superb, the upside down smile!

Hank
Too true. Thanks for.

ds
Absolutely!

Brian
I agree. That is the real conundrum, a circle yet to be squared.

Mary
Yes, becoming a universal sight, alas.

Leovi
Thank you for this comment.

kass
Sorry about the no show. Good that you succeeded eventually. Thanks for.

Carl
Yes, not easy to see the way forward, I agree.

A Cuban In London said...

The town could be a metaphor for society as a whole. Very heartfelt. Loved it. Many thanks.

Greetings from London.

Ygraine said...

Such a sad story but, unfortunately, so often true.

There are parts of our town that began life as masterpieces of architecture, only to be neglected and abandoned to vandalism.

Such a shame :(