Nobody walks the mat today. They click, date, dump by text
Union Street's a conveyor belt of consumers
Trailing bags of shopping like Livingstone's bearers
Toddlers scream unchecked in red-faced rage,
While child-mums flick their ash on buggy- heads
Skateboarders scrape the flagstones, striking sparks
A teenager riding a bike bombs past the Adelphi
Parting the waves of walkers, Moses on speed
At bus stops, peroxide grannies grumble at city changes
An ambulance parks at McDonalds for a human carry out
The sun puts in an unexpected appearance
The sounds are of Eastern Europe, Africa, Dubai, Doric
Everyone stops as a white stretch limo oozes over the tarmac
As large as its driver's ego, sleek's a suppository
By the greasy steps to the Green
A scraggy, spaced out youth has hit ground zero
A child drools at the tempting aroma of chocolate
Wafting out from a shop of candied morsels
In the cool of Archibald Simpson's,
A beer drinker downs his lager,
Flashing a bicep tattooed with a Devil's leer
At the Market Cross, the feeky drinkers
Swagger and stagger, frightening away the tourists
Under the indignant hooves of the rearing unicorn
Everywhere, seagulls indulge in seagull thuggery
Everyone's keeping their rowies under wraps
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
The images are sadly familiar, not just in Union Street. Love the accuracy and concise descriptions typical of your work. Some great lines to savour: Parting the waves of walkers, Moses on Speed... As large as its driver's ego, sleek's a suppository.. Better stick in my favourites' list.