BELFAST GREYHOUND TRACKS
When I was young
and liked a bet
two belfast dog tracks
is were I went.
Celtic Park,
once the home
of football greats
and Belfast Celtic
Memories of games
that stirred the passions
blowing in the wind
from Divis mountain
like battin dockets
from the dog races
The only excitment
left in the Park
cheered and cursed at
is the dogs.
The other side of town
is Dunmore Stadium
hidden away near Limestone rd,
greyhound meetings
wed/day & sat/day
Celtic Park is mon/day ,friday.
Nothin fancy about these places
falling down stands
and crumbling terraces
desperation reigns supreme
Bookies and Punters
need each other
hate each other just as keen
Eastwood, McAlevey Lawton
and a dozen more
There they stand
with their guarny faces
up on their stools
chalk in hand
beside their blackboards
setting the odds
The bookie ready with his eraser
to change the odds
in one quick swipe
watching each other down the line
like vultures waiting for the pickings.
The clerk,his mind
is like a machine
yer man was good
at sums in school
figuring odds and
losses and profits
for the night. ...cant afford a single slip
The Tic-Tak man
with his white gloves
sending messages across the track
from the bookies pitch
on the other side
a signaling system all his own
A sharp mind
was what was needed
and plenty of luck
aye, that too
to leave the races
with a profit
and that applies
to the bookies too
Even if you won
you might be lucky
to get paid out
by the bookie
The whinin voice
and the hard luck story
they,d make you wait
till their in the dough.
This is the end ( Jim Morrison )
GOODBUY MY FRIENDS.