Glasgow May 2006
C Ra McGuirt
Built on tobacco trade with Virginia
once wreathed in
smoky soot
and grime
now medieval buildings sparkle
beside rock clubs with neon signs.
The burning of coal has been forbidden.
Smoking in public may net you a fine
of up to a hundred pounds. The tawse
is gone from schools. Some local lads
are in Iraq. There is a Green
given
the People by a King
whose name escapes me for the nonce,
where festivals, civil disobedience,
riots and divers amusements oft
occur. On this fair
day it
rained,
The Green was quiet as this poem.
