Bridge over Mill stream -  The Hollies    1925, leodis.com                        


                                                                     The Hollies
                                                                       sad lives
                                         staining the walk-ways and promenades
                                                 the arboretum and boulevards.
                                               Sorrow spilling like an oil slick
                                                               like hot black tar
                                                            over the whole area
                                    A clinic for the ‘unmarried’ mothers and babies
                                               see the Lord’s face in this place.
                                           The mill-stone in Meanwood Beck
                                                         it sits by a bridge
                                                                  under
                                                                 Water
                                               Weighing down the gossip
                                                       the grief of girls
                                                       and their babies
                                                            separated
                                                                alone
                                                               bereft,

                                                               empty. 

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