Ogilvy's, version 2.0

In 2011, I wrote this poem, in honour of a forgotten building. Since then, the building has been torn down, to allow the Rideau Centre to expand. Here's my revised version of the same poem:

There was a building    at the corner of Rideau and Nicholas streets
A building      forgotten for almost twenty years

Almost two decades of oblivion
Almost twenty years       ignored

And when you told people about it
And when you'd mention it
    most people didn't remember seeing it       this huge building on Rideau street
    most people had forgotten it     this beautiful building on Nicholas

And yet
over twenty years ago     it was called Ogilvy's
And yet
one hundred years ago    it was called Ogilvy's
    one of Ottawa's first department stores
famous for its Tartan boxes
and high-end products.

But today     it's gone
  forgotten
        today
it's just another construction site
slightly problematic
    with its Heritage designation
      its former beauty
its torn down facade.

For so long it was sad               and lonely
     and ignored
like the many homeless vagrants       surrounding it
            walking by it every day
The ones we forget
The ones we've ignored
The ones who've    slowly    disappeared
Waiting for the ones in charge
   to do something
      to take charge
          to take a stand
And        meanwhile
this beautiful old building
slowly fades away             in our memory
all but forgotten what used to be in this empty spot
just another derelict
forgotten         ignored
                 lost
in this beautiful capital of ours.