Drizzle spattered the dark Tyne <br />Running its evening course between waterside lights <br />Jetties and ferry landings <br />The last place of safety before the vast North Sea <br />No more a powerhouse of shipyard invention, <br />Riveters and platers; <br />Colliers long since rotted <br />Coals turned to ashes <br />The red glow extinguished by cold modern times; <br />Apartments now stand rigid by your banks <br />With slivers of light through blinds <br />And muffled TV sounds; <br />Fishermen still stand on wooden decking <br />Leaning on rails and talking <br />Straining their eyes against the twilight <br />Water lapping beneath their feet; <br />Tug boats still ply now and then <br />And cargoes meander without urgency <br />Life still goes on; <br />But the Tyne remembers more exciting days <br />And yearns for their return<br /><br />Paul Gerard Reed<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/river-tyne/
