Hall Of Dreams

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

If these walls could speak

We might have a peek

Into the hopes and dreams

Of those who laid these bricks

Their care in every crease

For these spaces to exist

They would tell of those

Who gasped for air

at beauty beyond compare

They would recount

How the course of history

was altered by the business

Concluded in these corridors

What hope they had

For their history to persist

That their glory may endure

For many more years to come

Now they sigh in resignation

How the world moved on

Other dreams were born

As they whisper their past glory

To the lens of a stranger

Longing for return of the lives

that made these halls thrive

Days like these never foreseen

Where footsteps cease

Bricks struggle to hold their place

Vibrant colours shrivel and flake

Nature invades to reclaim its domain

And more dreams join their league