At the corner of Pershore
and Edgbaston Roads
the houses are gone.
Felled trees seen
above falling fence.
Thinning cold haze
makes for shivers outside.
Here with warm engine
beneath the seat
in worn out blue moquette.
The wheels on the bus
go round and round
while plugged-in music hisses
from stopped ears.
Knowing how dear a thing a house of any kind would now be for some, it did seem to me, from this vast distance, a great waste that these apparently serviceable houses on Pershore Road should be slated for demolition, merely so that the plastic toffs may have their new cricket ground. This is the sort of thing once inspired the likes of Trotsky to re-do the urban arrangements altogether, at least in one city, at least for a little while.
ReplyDeleteIt is horrible but unsurprising. We've already seen the selling off of vast numbers of council houses.
ReplyDeleteThe plastic toffs call the shots all over.
Here's the words to the nursery song from which lines 11 and 12 come:
ReplyDeleteThe wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all day long (Alternative: all through the town, or all around the town)
The wipers on the bus (or "glass") go Swish, swish, swish (or back and forth);
Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish,
all day long
The horn on the bus go Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus go Beep, beep, beep,
all day long
The children on the bus go Chatter, chatter, chatter;
Chatter, chatter, chatter;
Chatter, chatter, chatter.
The children on the bus go Chatter, chatter, chatter,
all day long
The people on the bus go Up and down,
Up and down,
Up and down.
The people on the bus go Up and down,
all day long
A return to the sources called for a small revision.
ReplyDelete