BROWNS
harbour road?
ugly, I say. quicker, its true.
sewri. reay road .cotton green.
past apathy in pretty names
shiny cars run home
in the pale lamp light.

dark warehouses huddle
all grime, brown, yesterday
shanties a-tumble
lined in padlocked blue
slats double-storey, shiny vessels in a row
a snatch of a song, a charpoy laid out,
a gossip circle, kids at play, a crowd.

suddenly
rubble, broken frames
debris, a life in steel trunks, a crane
a lady in polyester garish red, come-hither
a child cooks by a feeble fire
I try hard to hang on to
Lavender on the horizon, a hill outlined
past the stained glass, hush, teak and red marble
the ac hum, the deep piled gray.
I fail.