this bar my respite from the town’s primary occupation

that of presenting facade just as brutal in effect as the original

genteel beauty serves the monied and the tourists

gardened grounds available for a suitable fee

the slave post for trade demolished and largely unmentioned

the crack of the whip and the ring of the chain still echo in the streets

District homes with storied pasts still preside with pride of place

in their shadows long cast labor those who keep them

one day some day one of them will take a match and strike

see how long it takes to burn this to the ground