What flickering relatives might live again? ...

Behind the counter, the girl with high cheek bones made exquisite macchiatos - 

We went downstairs, to explore the mysterious rooms - 

There were sofas for lolling and dark reefs of forgotten books - 

An old film projector caught my eye -  

We lingered for a while amongst the delicate bric a brac - 

Who were those bearded uncles in the framed photographs, I wondered - 

What home movies had that projector shown? 

What flickering relatives might live again, if only for a few whirring moments?

10.38

Saturday 16 April 2016

Cafe Antiken

Frederiksberg

Copenhagen 

Making bean stew ...

I made a bean stew for dinner today - 

We'd got tired of Sainsburys sea bass - 

I'd remembered eating a bean and pork stew in Spain, just north of Mojacar - 

An expressionless woman served us the stew in chipped bowls - 

The hire car had a pelt of dust - 

But this stew contained not even the thinnest thread of chorizo - 

I bought the Borlotti and Cannellini beans in Purbeck Wholefoods - 

I saw Helene there, buying a small fistful of dried apricots -  

I crushed the clove of garlic with the blade of my clever knife - 

I stirred in the vine tomatoes whilst listening to Ethiopian jazz - 

I added black pepper and paprika - 

I lolled against the kitchen island, sampling my garlicky feast - 

I was startled by my reflection in the mirror - 

At last the stew was ready - 

Time, I thought, for big bumpers - 

18.30

Friday 29 May 2016

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

I could hear, very faintly, the shifting of the scenery for the story of my life ...

"The sense that reality itself was a stage set that could be dismantled at any moment"

Early this morning, I put down my book - 

I looked up from the truthful words to gaze at the branches of the apple tree - 

The buds on the lichened twigs were opening - 

Tiny leaves caught the light, tender promises of summer - 

The sky was blue and ageless - 

Yet I felt the movement of the seasons, the awkward dance of my own life - 

I was reading J G Ballard's Miracles of Life - 

I could hear, very faintly, the shifting of the scenery within which I breathed and dreamed - 

09.16

Thursday 28 April 2016

The garden

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Pastries in Frederiksberg ...

Idling in Frederiksberg, we were embarrassed by a richness of pastries - 

I'd sit in a warm eatery, nibbling a kringle like a careworn pasha - 

Paul would glance at the kultur section of Politiken - 

Sophie and Emma would sip their coffee - 

Danes would call in for pastries on their way to work - 

I'd feel like an extra in a scandi noir series - 

At any moment, a world weary cop would go past the window - 

She'd be listening to her I phone, hearing terrible secrets - 

10.48

Friday 15 April 2016

Frederiksberg

Copenhagen 

Wisdom of the Krell ...

Watching Forbidden Planet, I wanted to call Richard -

Dr Morbius was wearing black - 

There were two moons in the night sky - 

Altaira swam in an edenic pool - 

A leaping tiger was vaporised by Commander Adams, turned into a lick of flame - 

Robbie the Robot said warning warning - 

Too soon I heard the words I longed to hear - the fool, the meddling idiot! - as though his ape's brain could contain the wisdom of the Krell! - 

22.18

Sunday 24 April 2016

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

The Sunday Flea Market in Fredericksburg ...

Sophie and Paul are aficionados of jumble trails and flea markets - 

Their flat in Aldersbrook is the epitome of eclectic cool - 

It was no surprise therefore that we sought out the Sunday flea market in Frederiksberg - 

Behind the town hall there was a disorderly empire of bric a brac, shirts from the 1970s, distressed furniture, vinyl and strange toys - 

Paul bought a black mid European raincoat for three krone - 

Wearing it, he looked like a maverick undercover cop - 

I lingered for a while besides the Pulsar Hot Dogs stand - 

A chill wind blew in from the Baltic - 

We headed off, searching out pastries and coffee - 

11.30

Sunday 17 April 2016

Frederiksberg 

Copenhagen 

Their wings were dusted with summer ...

There's no one about my dad said - they must all be having breakfast - 

My mum was pushing her sholley along the familiar pavement -

My dad was walking behind her with his stick - 

Sometimes it seems a long way he said - 

The bells of St Faiths were ringing - 

I looked up to see spring blossom on awakening trees - 

Cloud gave way to blue sky - 

Swallows flew over the church tower - 

Their wings were dusted with summer -

09.30

Sunday 24 April 2016

West Street

Havant 

Brexiters ...

No one will tell us what to do - they make all the rules - millions of pounds a day they take from us - I want out - I've never voted conservative in my life - I'm UKIP -

Cherry laughed, her gravelly good natured laugh - 

Oh, come on she said - 

The woman wearing trackies shook her head - 

No - I want out - 

We were outside Budgens with our leaflets and determined smiles - 

Our Lib Dem colleagues had blown up yellow, green and red balloons - 

A big bellied man said we don't want Barrack Obama - he's shit - 

What about those Americans in cemeteries in France? the Green Party woman said - 

11.30

Saturday 23 April 2016

High Street

Swanage

Dorset 

Exquisite shops ...

Exploring Vesterbro, we lingered in the exquisite shops - 

Sophie had the air of a girl with a trust fund as she gazed at pale blue stoneware - 

Paul looked as though he'd just stepped out of an ideas jacuzzi - 

Emma was wearing a glorious parka - 

I wore my red Portillos - 

We stood upon lime washed floorboards - 

Craftsmen shaped chairs in minimalist workshops - 

Stylish pens cost tens of krone - 

I gazed at a silver hay bale - 

Women cycled past - 

They had bright fearless faces - 

I imagined their apartments, their pared down furnishings, their flawless lives - 

Friday 15 April 2016

Vesterbro

Copenhagen 

In Cafe Oscar ...

The youthful guide had tried hard to work the shivering crowd - 

We'd heard his cheery anecdotes about Queen Margrethe - 

Standing under the balcony  of the Radhus, he'd grinned and told us how she smoked twenty a day - 

When she walks through the park, she waves to people with one hand, and with her other hand, she hides her cigarette behind her back - 

But the rain and cold had leached into our bones - 

One statue of a king on horseback was followed by another - 

This is more like the free standing around tour Paul said - 

So we slipped away, finding warmth in Cafe Oscar - 

My spirits lifted as I sipped my Gaelic coffee - 

I unwrapped my scarf - 

I said tak when given my glass - 

16.42

Friday 15 April 2016

Cafe Oscar

Bredgade

Copenhagen

Tivoli ...

As night fell, walking in the Gardens, I recalled evenings in Brighton after eating magic mushrooms - 

The wild rides were bathed in the same feverish pulsing light - 

Roller coasters were webs of melting colour - 

A yellow pagoda overlooked an illuminated lake -

Music throbbed over the thin screams of girls - 

Men placed bets on the prancing tin horses of the Gallopen - 

We watched Paul spun round, faster and faster, on the Carousel - 

He'll fly away, I thought - 

He'll fly over the transfigured city like a sycamore seed - 

22.00

Friday 15 April 2016

The Tivoli Gardens

Copenhagen 

The Apartment ...

Whilst Sophie measured out the Lavazza, I lolled upon the blue sofa, before a wall of books - 

Outside, the pristine boulevard was free of traffic save for early morning cyclists -  

I watched young fathers cycle side by side with their fearless infants - 

The high ceilinged apartment could have been the setting for a film directed by a nervy auteur - 

I stood up, to look down Madvig Alle - 

What would it be like, I wondered, to live in this austere city, sipping coffee in a minimalist cafe?

I would wear a black raincoat, like Paul's, and call myself Jens - 

09.06

Friday 15 April 2016

13 Madvig Alle

Frederiksberg

Copenhagen 

That Dream of Peace ...

We must keep close together Sophie said - 

Above our heads were the leafless trees of Sondermarken Park - 

Water dripped upon our heads - 

Long roots delved through the cold earth - 

Wavering candlelight cast unsettling shadows - 

The darkness was filled with murmuring voices - 

We threaded our way through the labyrinth - 

Our breath smoked in the raw air - 

Video installations portrayed disfigured cities - 

Flowers bloomed amongst blackened ruins - 

Doves flew between the glistening columns -  

A rusty trolley had the skin of a strange beast - 

We stood before a portal to a golden Mondrian world - 

Stay close said Sophie - it would be so easy to be lost - 

10.30

Sunday 17 April 2016

Eva Koch's Exhibition

That Dream of Peace

The Cisterns in Sondermarken

Frederiksberg 

Copenhagen

Denmark 

Christiania ...

A courtly rogue showed Paul how to open the bottles of Taybeh - 

Like this he said - no, like this - levering off the tops - 

A grizzled blues man played his guitar - 

There was so much weed smoke hanging in the air that I felt dizzy - 

We drank from our chilled bottles - 

I admired the melting words painted on a door - 

17.00

Saturday 16 April 2016

Christiania

Copenhagen 

Dining at Bob ...

I'm about to order baked haddock in Bob - 

Danes are sitting at long tables in the minimalist canteen - 

Cooks wearing black are preparing the fish - 

We walked here from the Tivoli Gardens - 

The warehouses in the meat packing district were nests of creatives - 

Earlier Paul had been whirled into the night sky - 

We'd stood before a lurid pagoda - 

The waiter brings me my Norrebro with a wry smile - 

 

23.00

Friday 15 April 2016

Bob

Copenhagen 

Metro ...

I'm on the metro to Frederiksberg - 

Danish girls are whooping - 

The spotless carriage is filled with icy Nordic light - 

The dark city whirls past - 

Two bleary boys skulk in hoodies - 

The night is full of unknown streets - 

After midnight 

Friday 15 April 2016

Copenhagen