It's December on the docks
But I'm dressed for July
And I'm shivering and cold
Under a bleak winter sky.
There's just piles of rubble
Where Chandlers stores stood
Homeless folk are gathered
Around bonfires of wood.
An old Fridge Freezer lies
Among bricks, dust and weeds,
Already a fly dumping ground
It seems rubbish just breeds.
An old mattress on the road
Has been set alight
Adding more despair to
This once vibrant site.
The wind drifts the smoke
As I walk back to the car
Just a few more yards
Not really very far.
That's enough for today,
I'm really far too old
To be dressed for summer
And be shivering with cold.
I'm emotionally exhausted
And very close to tears
Thinking of all the hardship
Over the last hundred years.
It's all recorded for now
While it still lasts
For posterities sake
And for the sake of our past.
