In the city's heart, where neon lights once gleamed,

Now shadows dance on streets where hope once beamed.

Towers of steel, monuments to man's ambition,

Now echo with the silence of a lost rendition.

Empty corridors where commerce once thrived,

Now whisper tales of dreams unrevived.

The currency of progress, now mere paper thin,

As fortunes falter, and hope wears thin.

Hollow echoes of machines that used to hum,

Now resonate with a deafening drum.

Gilded promises, now tarnished and old,

As the wheels of industry grind to a halt, cold.

The skyline, once adorned with towers tall,

Now bows beneath the weight of its own fall.

A tapestry of progress, now unraveled and frayed,

As the foundations of society begin to fade.

Yet amidst the ruins, a flicker of light,

A beacon of hope in the darkest night.

For from the ashes, new seeds may yet spring,

And from the downfall, new beginnings sing.