Tenement Close Poem by Jim O'Donnell

Sitting in my singlet vest
Look through the windows looking west
The tenement is old and gray
Three stories up that’s were I stay

The lavey’s on the landing stairs
Don’t bare your bum for long out there
News paper hanging from a string
No toilet roll that’s the thing


Gas lights up the wally close
These were posher than most
Stain glass windows shimmer in the light
Cast iron banisters go up and out of site

The tenement has now long gone
But my memories will linger on


13 03 2010
Belfast