ONE IMPLACABLE MACHINE OF COLD FORCE

 

This post a poem about urban renewal. It is based on an old, large house being demolished to make way for flats near where I live.

 It took five working days to do for the house,

one implacable machine of cold force did it in,

supplied as it was with an endless chain

of hard lorries to disappear the evidence.

The wallpaper sloughed off

all those exposed inner spaces,

at least the rain kept the dust down

if not the sounds of the building’s death.

After that they scraped the naked earth,

removed half the garden, most of the lawn,

demarcating the dimensions of the car park.

The flats rose quickly after that.

For me it was sad to pass by a grand old house being demolished. Perhaps this is the fate that awaits all our endeavours? 

In Torquay there is a move to build on the brownfield sites which must be welcomed. It is just a pity that the big old houses cannot be refurbished.

Here's Jay Farrar with Barstow. 

Until next time.