on tables outside Hayes Island snack bar,
a young couple laugh as they pass
oblivious to all lonely souls
as seagulls scavenge for scraps
and a mournful violin is played by
a busker under a cold winter sky.
Skeletal trees long for their leaves,
Christmas lights lost in the past
as the January bells of St John's ring
and shoppers begin to arrive
to worship at the temple of John Lewis
and a mournful violin is played by
a busker under a cold winter sky.