Belfast as a young woman

Your parents' minds were dark and their ways controlling
Like Black Mountain towering over Belfast
But your eyes are bright, bonfires alight

Your new roads, the blemishless arms and legs
Have no tattoo murals or scars
Like your parents' blackened, burnt pavements
You don't understand why they can't heal

Your sweet perfume fills the wind and envelopes the hills
No more the odours of your past,
The factories, the breweries
The blood or the gunpowder

At the foot of the River Lagan
Your new pair of sparkley shoes you show off
The odyssey and waterfront hall
Your new found nightlife

You party all night
Your heart free and open
No security checks now
You let anyone in

The waves of your dark hair bob up and down
As you dance and ebb
And watch the men who pass by

But each day or night without fail
Your tears fall down
And wash this city with rain

Your dreams and deep thoughts are locked away in your heart
Like jewels in the city's mansions
Your body and mind are divided like your people

You still feel empty inside
Knowing you've got a long way to go
Before you feel peace