If there was a city
Whose name suggests
A first settlement for
The brave and bold Vikings
Who named and ruled
The county in which it sits
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
That was renamed by
Perhaps the most influential
Of English kings
To increase the trade wealth
Of his already vast Empire
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
That supported perhaps
The most famous
Of English kings
In our fight to
Repel the French
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
That denied entry to a King
To fight monarchal tyranny
And support democracy
Sparking Civil War
And changing Britain forever
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
That saw the horror
In the enslavement of humans
And fought for freedom
And called for humanity
To be truly humane
You’d think it would be better know,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
So feared by fascist Germany
That they bombed us flat
Because we posed a risk
Greater than any others
To the conquest of our shores
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
That cured a great author
That wrote of Hobbits and Rings
Of a deadly disease
He caught while teaching
In a sister city
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
That birthed a star
That wrote the song of
The Man Who Sold The World
That in turn would launch
The man that became a legend
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not.

If there was a city
With such importance
And history within its country
And indeed the World
Within politics, music, poetry,
That has helped shape the world
You’d think it would be better known,
But it’s not…