Police Public Call Box

Unyielding as the Tollbooth,
Blue and firm as the saltire,
A thick voice of law and order
Muffled in the broad Georgian streets.
Solid by the siren of the last war,
Sandbags piled around it like a scarf.

Opposite the Deacon Brodie Tavern,
Resisting what he stood for
Even though he imitated its form.
Two sides to a street, as people are:
Heads the box, tails the tavern;
The only reality the night they serve.