The Heart of the City
By mark_p
- 421 reads
The Heart of The City
1. The Pace of Life
where predatory consumers
hustle and bustle seven days a week
spend-spend- spending
until the plastic runs out
Union Street , manners have gone from you
as folk fly past
too busy to be anything other than busy
as folk fly past
flying fast- mobile-handed chatting to thin -air
chatting without a care who is listening
designer labelled- faded out kids
be-denimed revenants from the worst of the seventies
the Old disguised as the New
"In my day , kids opened doors for an auld wifie!"
"I mind fan pop music wis tuneful, nae jist a racket!"
not now- nobodys bothered- these days
too busy being busy
to worry about being worried
no time for knowing what time it is
Union Street, I have walked your length for many years
seen many changes wear and tear
shops and cinemas all have gone
what has our local council done?
closed down shops- for sale-for lease
short-term lease shops selling cheese
piss-reeking doorways
vomit -speckled doorways
you split into fourways
at Union Terrace
Burns and Wallace
stand like icons
pointing in separate directions
"Fit wye tae Hivven , mate?"
"I dinna ken!"
2. Seeking Oblivion?
Union Bridge:
the home to a cloud of a million starlings
cracks under the strain
providing a springboard to Oblivion
with a brace of black cats standing to attention
for those wanting an easy way out
street people signal to one
another across you
shouting -seemingly drugged or drunk
folk just working hard and living sober
though thats a hard lie to live up to
beneath your concrete belly- clubbers live it up
taking designer drugs and branded beers
roads are built to allay city gridlock
that lead to nowhere
providing a passage to Oblivion
3.Union Street
union of ancient and modern
Macdonalds and St Nicholas Churchyard
stare each other out from opposite sides
past -Bakers- Safeways- HMV-
Gap for kids with methadone teeth
Gap for adults to spend-spend-spend
corporate conglomerates-when will it end
the citys heart is being transplanted
is homogeniety what we wanted
every pub and cafes the same
everywhere the names the same
pubs become churches-churches become pubs
underground vaults turn into nightclubs
the citys heart beats- still alive-
alive with lives which grow and thrive
alive with good folk playing their part
walk arterial paths to
your concrete heart.
? Mark Pithie 2003
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