Idling in The Bodrum ...

We sat in The Bodrum, waiting for our plates to be cleared away - 

We'd met Richard outside The King's Theatre - 

Beautiful vagabonds thronged the pavements - beggars sat cross legged outside twenty four hour off licences - snake hipped boys played dangerous guitars in The Wedgewood Rooms -

Above the roof tops of the Victorian villas there was a starless sky - 

Dark tides filled the harbour - herring gulls were swaggering hungry bravos - 

Richard listened patiently to our stories about my parents - 

We'd told him about the scene in the street - 

Little by little, we felt better - 

We drank fragile cups of Turkish coffee - 

Richard called the young waiter over - they spoke about apricot harvests and Goreme - 

Richard had watched the sunrise from the summit of Mount Nemrut - 

There wasn't much mobile phone coverage up there he said - 

The horse must always be given the office I thought - 

21.30

Friday 2 October 2015

The Bodrum

Albert Road 

Southsea