In the early hours

In the early hours

The sound of a piano

Playing

Honky-tonk

Drifts on the downside

Of a late night

Into an early morning

As street cleaners

Erase memories

Of the indulgence

The click-clack

Of tired heels

Echo in counterpoint

Streetwalkers leaving

The night cafe

To sleep right through

Until they catch-up

With the day before

The tip-tap

Of a keyboard

As a print hack

Tries to rewrite a story

Over coffee in the corner

The tick-tock

Of an old clock

On a wooden sideboard

In a flat

Above the food store,

That used to be a pub

Rub-a-dub,

Where children

On the way to school

Steal an apple

For the teacher

Play knockdown ginger

At a door

Marked ‘for Analise

Ring the bell’

Ding-ding

Almost bowling into

An old couple

Walking arm in arm

In sedate progress

Using twin

Hickory sticks

For balance

Tip-tap

Click-clack

So many changes

To the neighbourhood

Since first they met

And yet

As the day begins

With a melody

So many things

Remain the same