Bibamus, Moriendum est.

It was now just another decrepit old building 
At the end of the street
Dark and foreboding, 
               Crumbling and moldy
There was a time though, very long ago
When the building was filled with people                 
                              From the first light of morning
                              Until the day faded into the night
Businesses thrived from one end of the street to the other
Newsstands & Pharmacies, Shoe and Stationary stores
Restaurants that served breakfast, lunch and dinner
                                       24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Supper clubs that featured music from live bands
Where people danced into the wee hours
                       Hoping to end the night at the afterhours club
                       Around back and down the stairs

And now the building is only home
               To mice and rats and the occassional ghosts
Of the five or six men shot and killed while playing cards
Or playing with another man's woman
And the three or four women found slain and abandoned
                           Their killers still unknown to this day