My City

I recently went to the city where I was born, and was dismayed at what has happened to it during the last decades.
As I went on guided tour of the Town Hall, I was struck by the proud heritage that this city had, founded on the now long gone wool industry. Walking around the streets, it seemed a different place now…a city in decline and decay.


Oh what has gone wrong with my city?
The vibrant city of my birth
Where proud old mills once bustled with trade
Now stand empty, with no voices heard

What has happened to our civic pride?
In our once clean and tidy town
Those satanic mills may once have looked black
But there was never this litter around

We mourn the passing of this bygone age
From that era of work and tradition
Will it ever regain it’s strength
Has it still got the will and volition?

What’s happened to our great woollen trade?
Once the envy of all, worldwide
That backbone of our once proud past
Gone with the rest of civic pride

Shops that once bursting with goods a plenty
Mills full of memories of work they once had
Now standing idle, neglected and decayed
Leaving me with feelings so sad