Prompt 1 June 1."Unreal city, sempiternal though sodden towards sundown" taken from T S Eliot given by Ampat Koshy

“Unreal city, sempiternal though sodden towards sundown" 

Nestling on the life giving river banks

Neat gardens and fences

A time bubble never to explode

No fast food outlet, bank or library

Mars its streets.

School, post office, corner shop

Bakery and pub on the main road

Chemist and medics on the back one

A few churches and a cemetery 

That's it : a small town, 

Proud of its isolation 

Living in harmony

Or is it ?

By the river the caravan camp

With its shady flowery alleys

Belies the naked truth 

For segregation rips apart 

The resident food pickers

From the town denizen.

Only employed for a few months

Invisible the rest of the year

Ignored by the community at large

Never part of the white entitled society 

Guiding the mental and physical welfare

Represented by its farmers

Seasonal employers in this town

They are spoken of 

Never spoken to.

The town curiosity

Holds an ossuary 

In memory of the POW camp

Where migrants took forced residence

The town reputation 

Rest on an asteroid landing

Fifty years ago

So let’s celebrate.

Lucette C. Bailliet

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