Drizzle spattered the dark Tyne
Running its evening course between waterside lights
Jetties and ferry landings
The last place of safety before the vast North Sea
No more a powerhouse of shipyard invention,
Riveters and platers;
Colliers long since rotted
Coals turned to ashes
The red glow extinguished by cold modern times;
Apartments now stand rigid by your banks
With slivers of light through blinds
And muffled TV sounds;
Fishermen still stand on wooden decking
Leaning on rails and talking
Straining their eyes against the twilight
Water lapping beneath their feet;
Tug boats still ply now and then
And cargoes meander without urgency
Life still goes on;
But the Tyne remembers more exciting days
And yearns for their return

Paul Gerard Reed

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/river-tyne/