STREETS Project > dee street brickwork

dee street
small rose bushes
congregate in compact gardens
bricked in, iron railings
white bricks
edge the windows and doors
in a chisel cut pattern
as every other brick
is left unpainted.
harland and wolfe welders
on the corner of wye street
across the street
from leebody fuels,
they carry arrow oil
and the street workers
section off the road.

thin walls, sections of wall
poke up with vents
chimney stacks
marking the division
from house to house,
you can almost tell
where the pensioners live
cause the coal smoke
is always there
no one else runs a fire
at all hours of the day,
the satellite cables
sketch their way
across the bricks
straight lines shape
a modern crest;
level line structures
following the flemish bond lines,
round bullnoses and
the occasional kings closer
headers and stretchers
forming the english bond
that works into the soul.

jean's grocery caps the row
holding court with sweets,
newspapers, and christmas cards
the glaring powder blue tile
and roll shutter front
feel all the more sudden
in contrast to the aging brick
"i'm not a sullen solitary man
but you'll not find me in there!"
exclaims roger from number eighteen,
but he seems to be the only one
as the rare person moves slowly
down the pavement
headed somewhere else
or back to home
on the quiet night
on dee street

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