A tall man with a faltering walk stops and

Looks at a yellow billpost on the bus stop

Now hiring

A karate school in a shop front

A window of gray trophies

Camden, with its old plywood clamped across the windows

Even the hospital is boarded up

Small deserted houses look back at you blankly

Their pastel-painted exteriors make them look like ill-repaired toys

And on the warm grass, people wave

And on the warm grass, people wave

Cartoon dignitaries smile softly from caramel billboard tributes