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| I took this photo just outside Leeds city centre. |
Between city and nature
Is this kinda gothic place.
Here the sagging trees
Have little room to breath.
They gasp between concrete blocks.
All is graffiti-laden
And stinks of piss.
A dungeonlike mini-world
Of threat and mystery…
Well; at night it sure is.
But during the day,
It simply hints at death.
That enticing staircase beyond
- Sharp in its upwardness —
Goes to a lighter place.
And the darkly-blotched tunnel -
A piss-ridden conduit to nowhere,
And a rapist’s neat-little trap.
By day, too short to be a danger.
By night, too long to be used at all.
(One wonders what its purpose was.)
And those monumental pipes
— Which thread like iron veins
Between wall and wall -
Carry water, piss and shit
From A to B.
So which zeros signed ornate names
On this dirty patch of city?
Were they marking territory?
Expressing teen spirit?
Or in artistic competition
With rival graffitists?
Were there any prizes?
Perhaps the Master, Banksy,
Could judge them lightly
- In his hipsterish way -
From his artistic height…
Oh — the Council doesn’t care much.
It expects this colourful stuff.
Takes it for granted.
Yes — it’s inner-city expression…
And all that.
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