Friday 11 January 2013

The Shards of London


Olympic city and Jubilee bling
corporate logos with a hollow ring.
The other Stratford discovered at last
the NHS opener; a thing of the past?

The torch round the country unites the many
volunteers pointing where to spend a penny.
Squaddies on leave who save the day,
private wealth not having its way

I walked the Moselle along to the Lea,
smiled at green woodpecker laughing at me,
smiled wider in Tottenham as it seemed right
watching locals with shirts stand Bolt upright

The Haringey harrier, now Lord Coe
speaks for Britain in case you don’t know,
and people are out on their bikes once more
but getting knocked over by men we deplore

While south of the river a glass cone hits the clouds
leaving Coin Street, Clink and Cathedral to crowds.
The Duke of York went to the top of its slope
and slid back down on the end of a rope

A hungry metal caterpillar bores through underground
for Crossrail we are told makes a million from a pound,
but all this tunneling through hard ground and bogs
only to bring fat cats to the Isle of Dogs

There’s not enough places to take off and land
so let Hounslow be deafened, or let’s pave Maplin sand.
Now there’s a concrete plan if ever there was
that’ll do more than make birds and bees pause

Boris’ new bus can sometimes be seen
from a bike from a bank that’s far from green,
but more Chelsea tractors pollute the air
so travelling around can be quite unfair

There are handcarts aplenty in Hell these days,
that’s why walking is better to sense this maze.
So remember this year that is almost gone,
stop, listen, look around, and feel the ozone.


Gordon Peters,
December, 2012

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