Some Streets

Some streets have doors that don’t open
Some streets have curbs waiting to be bitten
Some streets have curtains to hide the inside
Some streets have cars with scratches on every side
Some streets have houses that cast no shadows
Some streets have faces lined with sorrows
Some streets have streetlights that don’t work for miles
Some streets have faces that can’t seem to smile
Some streets have corners for every prostitute
Some streets have benches for beds for the destitute
Some streets have potholes that will break both your feet
Some streets have nowhere for people to meet
Some streets have bus stops without the right timetables
Some streets have shoes tangled in cables
Some streets have chimneys without any smoke
Some streets have stumps where their used to be oaks
Some streets have drains too mucky to be flowing
Some streets have bins that are always overflowing
Some streets have engines revving all night
Some streets have balloons popping mid-flight
Some streets have gutters filled to the brim
Some streets have fences with spikes round the rim
Some streets have posh ends where the grass is greener
Some streets have poor ends where the grass smells stronger
Some streets have graffiti telling me ‘Paul’s a wanker’
Some streets have fly tipping that couldn’t be ranker
Some streets have blind people listening to TV
Some streets have deaf people watching TV
Some streets have old men waving at school girls
Some streets have swine that have swallowed the pearls
Some streets have screaming at 2am in the morning
Some streets have clubs that are so so boring
Some streets have reports that put them on someone’s list
Some streets have neighbours that seem really really nice but are really really racist
Some streets have screens reflecting on dry eyes
Some streets have suns that set but never rise
Some streets have moons that are always half full
Some streets have pubs with hardly anyone in them all
Some streets have parks with signs that say ‘Keep Off’
Some streets have Vladivar bottles instead Smirnoff
Some streets have White Lightning instead of Magner’s
Some streets have Wiggles songs instead of Wagner’s
Some streets have cafés with hygiene ratings of one
Some streets have gunshots to duck or run from
Some streets have closed signs on the local bar
Some streets have pigeon shits on every car
Some streets have dog shit everywhere and dog’s always barking
Some streets have cat shit everywhere and cat’s always screeching
Some streets have fox shit everywhere and fox’s always fucking
Some streets have shoeless feet covered in sores
Some streets have diseases without any cures
Some streets have children up against doors
Some streets have husbands settling scores
Some streets have the fallen holding onto floors
Some streets have trails of sweat leaking from pores
Some streets have breakings of hundreds of laws
Some streets have houses fighting endless, pointless, no-win wars
That’s some streets – now tell me about yours

 

 

Luigi Coppola (www.luigicoppolapoetry.blogspot.co.uk)  teaches and writes in London, England. Shortlisted for the Bridport Prize twice, he appeared in the Worple Press anthology The Tree Line and publications include Acumen, The Frogmore Papers, Iota, Magma, Orbis, Neon, Rattle, The Rialto, THE SHOp and Snakeskin.