Theirs a picture

A picture hangs upon my wall
A scene of days gone by
Cobbled streets and chimney pots
Grimy factory sky
Flat capped figures with matchstick legs
Frozen forever in oil
Millworkers queuing at factory gates
To embark on another days toil
Clattering clogs on back to back streets
The distant hoot of a tram
A wailing infant in a hand me down shawl
Being wheeled in a second hand pram
A spluttering gas lamp lights the scene
Casting an eerie glow
On a murky tabloid that reaches out
To remind me of long ago
How I yearn to enter this canvas world
Step through its varnished frame
And vanish forever down painted streets
Never to be heard of again