London

The train I took to London
Was early on the platform!!!
The carriages and stations
Smarter and cleaner than I remember

Londoners seem smaller now
When did we become giants?
The buildings keep on rising
Because everyone wants to live here
A multicolored stream of life
Flowing through the streets
From every nation and tongue

From the river I see history
Transformed into the new
Battersea is the Tate Modern
Imperial Warehouses are now flats
The South Bank is crowded even in Wintertime
People eating and hanging out

The Globe stands out by the river's bank
The only survivor of the Great Fire
Somerset House where the taxes go
The Tower of London for those who failed to pay

The skies are grey
Tall skyscrapers pierce them
Reaching up for the light of day
Sometimes it breaks through
And shines on glass
Sparkling jewels by castles and monuments
St Pauls Church still stands tall
But Mammon rears larger
In the Banks behind it
There is a feeling of growth here
Construction cranes all around
The buzz of excited people
Moving, always moving on

They are rebuilding the Victorian sewers
There are new ways under and over ground
The Elizabeth Line, smart and serious
Now crosses London town

We find dinosaurs in Museums
Cleopatra's Needle is older than the city
Echoes from the ancient world
A million memories and hopes expressed
In stone and glass and brick
In the ever-changing city
The Thames flows past
An unbroken river of time