Hackney Gardens, London E8

This site was a nursery
next to the municipal mortuary
Council care from the cradle to the grave
with alphabets and sing-alongs and rhymes
Once upon a time

Then they closed it.

Next it became a unit where the students
the schools had driven up the walls
were taken to be straightened out
or at least kept away from trouble

Then they closed it. And sold the site.

And now a homeless body lies beneath a blanket
beneath the hoarding,
the boards that boast of Luxury Apartments
and a Neighbourhood to Discover
and half a million won’t even get you a one-bedroom flat

This site cared for little kids
then it tried to mend bigger kids
then it gave up caring and fixing
and now it nurtures only riches


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