fifth year

The chairs in half the room have changed,
The other half remain the same...
The same as they've been since they were changed.
Does anything remain the same?

The caf sells Indian now, and wine,
The art has moved with changing times,
Old friends have left, can't hear me whine:
Does anything remain the same?

The street across the road has gone,
And in its place, a spacious throng,
An improvement, but a costly one,
Does anything remain the same?

The people here who sit around
Sit in the place of last year's crowd,
Diff'rent folk the old words sound,
Does anything remain the same?

I ponder, as I plod the race,
A four-year fixture in this place,
The fact that I, even I, have changed.
Does anything remain the same?

-- Iain Hart