A New City Core? Poem by Doug Blair

Sunday afternoon and February
King and Queen hub
Young lady scooting everywhere
On snow pusher.
Walkers huddled'
Still chatting with gusto
And coats pulled tightly
Around tummies.
Chins tucked into collars.
Young mother and scarfed princess
Dollar store treasures.
Ambulance corner blasts
So rudely.
Large picture window
For us with coffees.
Still a sad sense of hazard here.
Of desperation for some
Touch of normalcy.
New condos coming.
Many an eatery franchise
But no stable jobs come out of it.
Old staple retailers departed.
Men's clothes.
Fragrances and make-up.
Specialty foods European.
Hilary looks uncomfortable here.
Old centre of town stigmas
Die hard.
Panhandlers.
Pit bulls, mongrels.
Benches hosting shiftless ones.
Or just plain marginalized.
Crack deals in front of City Hall.
Gospel tract guy still presenting.
Constable chilled and on foot.
Poverty of parking.
Of fresh active excitement.
Far from urban renewal yet
In the mind's eye.