Inner City Canal
This water tumbling over the canal locks
pours no redemption as once in times gone by.
Dead dogs and cats float amid the bankside reeds
with plastic bags, beer cans, bottles, other debris.
The revelleries of youth have long since past.
The sportive summer boys have swum their last.
Needles of death now litter the ancient towpaths.
Dark bodies crouch under low cavernous bridges.
Only the majestic swans paddle patiently
awaiting the stale bread of strollers & flight to other parts.
Ghosts of those we loved and those we once befriended
hover over the canal’s green sludge, directionless & homeless.
