Corner Shop, Slow Collapse, Stoke

Corner pitch. Brick peeling. Glass boarded. Someone did perms here once, scissors clicking through a Thursday afternoon. Now pigeons probably nest in the roof. You walk past it daily I'd wager and forget it's there until your eye snags on the tilt of a drainpipe or the rust blooming through mortar. Buildings don't fall apart quickly. They rot in increments. Fascia first, then window frames, then the whole structure listing like it's giving up. The future for this place? Same as the rest of Stoke's empties. Demolition probably. Or it just stands there decomposing until the council gets embarrassed. How long till you forget it ever had a sign?

Listen : "Remembranza" by Murcof - https://murcofmusic.bandcamp.com/album/remembranza

Read : “Ironopolis” by Glen James Brown - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ironopolis-Glen-James-Brown/dp/1912681099

Watch: *Kes* (1969) dir. Ken Loach - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eXTtoPn2mmg