London Poem by Jim McDonald

London
I walk every day under your heavy skies
the grey lid that covers your people.
I walk your filthy streets and step past
chicken bones dog excrement vomit urine stains
cigarette ends empty Stella cans pizza boxes
all discarded by your selfish people
who treat your crumbling streets with contempt.
London
your pall of brown smog covers me
yet your cars get bigger
minds of the drivers smaller
every year.
London
what have you left to offer?
You welcome the poor and treat them like animals
you revel in your insular cockney aggression.
London
your Empire is gone
your docks are empty
your trading floors filled with vacuous egotists
intent on grabbing what they can
your football grounds full of glory-seeking merchandise-clad sheep
desperate to see a team of foreigners provide some glory.
London
try a smile
instead of a snarl.
London
try to walk for once
instead of pumping out more CO2 from your 3 litre petrol engines.
Londoners
stop gorging yourselves
stop furrowing your brows
and open your eyes.

9.5.2007.