How to get the message through? Maybe through verse. A poem is worth a thousand words is the great Bard said. So I have written something.
There are spaces in the empty streets*
The church has lost its steeple**
The shop windows are boarded up
The town has lost its people.
The fairground rides are quiet and still
The strongman’s arms are feeble**
There’s no more candy floss, my lad***
The town has lost its people
No one views the monuments
Like Cleopatra’s Needle
The guided tours are quiet now
The town has lost its people
In public parks you’ll see a dog
And in the sky an eagle****
There are no gloves or leashes now*****
The town has lost its people
I shouted till my voice grew hoarse
They said to shout’s illegal******
But shouting’s all that matters now
The town has lost its people.
It’s not great. I’m no Roger Woddis (pictured). And I’m sure you could do better. Because sometimes a beautiful line of verse can bring down the walls of Jericho. As Shelley said, poets are the unacceptable face of capitalism. But I am undaunted. With my keyboard and pen I will continue to campaign.
Because they aren’t gone. #tag2012
* This was the first thing that occurred to me. I told my colleague Peter Stimpson who works in Costings and he said that spaces can’t be ‘in’ anywhere, which goes to show that some people do not have a poetic bone in their body.#
** this is a metaphor and should on account be taken seriously
*** Who is this ‘lad’? I don’t know and that’s what poetry is about.
**** This is intended to suggest a world in which dangerous animals are free to roam and should not discourage people from visiting Leeds town centre,
***** People who handle eagles have these special gloves. A leash is self-explanatory.
****** Shouting is illegal under certain circumstances, but I have not actually been warned legally. In fact, I have not actually shouted. This is poetic licence.
# There is no such thing as a poetic bone. I thought it might be like a funny bone and be a real thing but Dr Malcom, my GP, assures me not.
