St James' Bell

      St. James' bell    St. James' bell
      it isn't named in London's rhymes
      but I'll not return to Camberwell
      now St. James' bell no longer chimes

      St. James' bell    St. James' bell

      he rang it often when a boy

      before singing hymns    and singing well

      in St. James' choir they sang for joy

      jubilantly they played in Myatt's Fields

      its Easter flowerbeds ablaze

      with tulips, daffodils

      sparks of spring that pierced dazed

      bomb battered London

               they sang for joy

      though some were fatherless, iron

      in their hearts    a chill alloy

      that belled pure notes in spring

      when sudden gusts shook dust from trees

      drab Londoners changed their skins

      donned country airs    shelled new peas

      but where they sang none sing there now

      St. James' choir    St. James' bell

      both made redundant    silent now

      except my memory hears this knell

      St. James' bell    St. James' bell

      it isn't named in London's rhymes

      but I'll not return to Camberwell

      now St. James' bell no longer chimes

      © Dick Russell, 2013