The sirens wail
turning tail to run
shots expire from a
long barrelled gun,
but it's not me
I flee.

it's youths or yutes as they call them today

scallywags robbing tally bags
the neighbourhood goes from bad to worse but
it used to be good

I think
it used to be a paradise

the end of the 60's
beatniks and hippies
free love
flowers and
rainbows,

we didn't know
or we did
and hid these
thoughts away,
baby boom
baby boom
look at today

our fault the system's down
the wiring's kaput and
not just in this
Northern town

"the lamps are going out all over Europe"

is there no hope?