Keeping The Faith - Poem

Keeping The Faith

Concrete as far as the eye can see
Grey squares and rectangles interspersed with fragments of colour
Different sizes, different shapes – varied yet all very much the same
Monsters made of bricks and mortar
Days to put up but one fatal blow to bring the whole lot crashing down
An ugly blot on a jaded landscape
Green fields eroded away replaced by darkness, decay, today’s society
Peeling paint, faded and worn
Blistered and cracked like a person’s skin on a cold cold day
Windows covered in a polluted film of dust and smog, blown like falling leaves through the air
The ashes of life finding their final resting place wherever they can
Words and drawings etched into the film
Reminders of a love once gained then lost
Swear words abbreviated to fit onto a small pane of glass
Broken glass removed hastily - windows boarded up with wood and cardboard
Blocking out what is left of the light
Posters adorn vacant premises, advertising the fact they are empty
A welcome sign to vandals hanging conveniently at the front door
Stairwells littered with rubbish, excrement and the odd stolen shopping trolley
Lifts broken down, out of order
Graffiti lining doors and walls inside and out
A coat of colour worn like a badge of honour
Territory marked, pride gained with just a can of spray paint
Front gardens, back gardens they are all the same
Weeds rather than plants or flowers
Clogged with litter thrown in from the path
Beer cans, cigarette butts, chewing gum, plastic wrappers, polystyrene fast food containers
People much too lazy to find the nearest bin and throw their waste away
Front gates, broken pieces of wood lying like a death trap on the garden floor
An obstacle course for visitors and tradesmen alike
Barbed wire and metal fences to keep intruders out and savage dogs in
A home or a prison it all looks the same
Street lights bulbs blown
Bus shelters smashed with anger leaving nothing more than an empty shell
Nothing but fragments to protect innocent bystanders from the rain
Seats, park benches covered in anything people can get their hands on, better to stand, safer to stand
Burnt out cars left abandoned on any vacant or rough land
Picked over by thieves like a wild animal devouring its prey
The playground a shelter for drug addicts, the homeless, out of work, people who are just bored
Needles used, lie like wounded soldiers on the ground, poison to another person’s skin
Aerosol cans tossed aside used as a football when a ball cannot be found
Shops closing down one by one, a stack of dominoes all waiting for their turn to fall
Recession, high rent, no customers, a bad area, unemployment there are so many things to blame
Once bustling high streets now deserted, like a desert starved of water
High street names facing extinction in the blink of an eye just as the dinosaurs once did
Pound shops see a surge in sales, trade has never been so good than in this day and age
Queues, like a herd of cattle, waiting in a line for the shop to open
People anxiously looking at their watches waiting till they can grab baskets or trolleys and flock in
Filling empty baskets to the brim with goods they probably would not normally buy
A bargain so they have to have it
Loaded with flimsy carrier bags they stagger home, trudging along uneven pavements
Paving slabs raised just waiting for someone to fall
Chewing gum an unseen enemy lining the tarmac floor
Broken glass, bottles being thrown about in the wind smashing endlessly against the kerb
Music loud and unfathomable blasts from passing cars, windows wide open to let the endless thud thud escape
Different tunes radiate from houses, phones, shops
A cacophony of random sounds and beats rolled into one
People yelling at one another, pushing, swearing, fighting
Chatting tirelessly on mobile phones, sending texts telling loved ones things they can not wait until they get home to say
Meaningless conversations made out of nothing, empty words lost in the technical ether
Workmen and women dig holes; fill holes, wolf whistle and show off body parts as they work away
Roads littered with orange cones, warning signs advertising long delays and diversions
Safety precautious that become play things for drunks late at night
A cone becomes a brightly coloured hat for a street light
Traffic lights and pedestrian crossings flicker away
Cars shooting over red lights, owners oblivious to the danger they are creating
Eating, chatting, talking on mobile phones as they kill or injure another innocent school child or passer by
Mounting crowded pavements scattering shoppers
Speeding through twenty mile an hour zones
Schools surrounded by high fences and gates that lock
Children kept under close scrutiny that is the way it has to be
Innocent children now a valuable commodity
Schools attract paedophiles, would be kidnappers like a moth to a very bright flame
Children turned into adults at a very young age
Tragically it is no longer just the adults you have to fear
Killers and law breakers come in all shapes and sizes, many starting at a worryingly young age
Knives, guns carried without a second thought
Protection against an unseen enemy
Violence second nature to some
Broken homes, abuse, bullying are all words used to apportion blame
Blood, red and thick, is spilled all too easily these days
Dark clouds are rolling in
Swallowing the world, changing it and not for the best
Time moves on but things stay much the same