Rain beating down© GERALD ENGLAND
on flag-stoned paths,
the bus trundling on
past row upon row
of all-the-same houses.
In these houses,
back to back standing,
working men have lived
with their families.
They still do.
Some are living more in the corner pub -
home just the place
where they go to sleep
and to beat the wife - .
Daughters dream only of the time
when they can marry out
to chic suburbia -
a modern council housing estate,
one of tomorrow's slums -.
One of the streets is called
- Evening Street -
There was never morning here,
where it always rains,
though the streets are not always wet.
Nearby is Rose Hill,
a reminder of when
flowers bloomed
even here,
but that was long ago.
Composed: Oldham, 1st September 1968
Publications
1974 North (UK)
1990 Poetry Peddler (USA)
Note: It all looks very different now - see Streetview -
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