OF MUFFLED MALLS & STRANGLED SHOPS

OF MUFFLED MALLS & STRANGLED SHOPS 

 

Muffled malls and empty yards

Strangled shops with fake facades

Empty plots fill silent streets 

Marking out the long retreat 

Of family firms from dawn of days

Who just gave up and went away

Leaving takeaways and choking vapes

Mini marts with minging paint    

Where surly guards ward blinking lights

Bets and slots and corporate vice 

And snuffling strangers snort for change

In sleeping bags in smelly lanes

 Discount stores and discount lives  

Discount souls clutch sausage rolls 

Echoing streets and scattered stalls

Mark and mourn the tragic fall 

Bereaved of bustle and trader's praise 

No tinkers, tailors, market days  

No butcher, cobbler, wafting bread 

No soul, no heart, for all is dead 

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