Liverpool

The first smell of rain hitting city walls Before slipping down into guttery streams Heavy drops splattering layers of ashes and dirt Causing clouds to clot in noses of newly wet children Wet soot snots that run so black memories keep coming back Like scabs on bare and dirty knees Or fog enveloping invading nostrils Condensing eyelids blinding sight Muffling sound and squeezing light Hiding the world in the wetness Of a cloud too heavy to fly Carrying smells of sea salt and tar Smoke of smouldering coal fires Rolls off wet tile rooftops to mingle With the soapy smell of Monday