Saturday 30 April 2016

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 






Friday 29 April 2016

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 





Thursday 28 April 2016

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 



Wednesday 27 April 2016

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 



Tuesday 26 April 2016

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 

Monday 25 April 2016

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 



Sunday 24 April 2016

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 



Saturday 23 April 2016

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 





Friday 22 April 2016

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 




Thursday 21 April 2016

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




Wednesday 20 April 2016

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 



Tuesday 19 April 2016

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 


Monday 18 April 2016

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 





Saturday 16 April 2016

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 



Friday 15 April 2016

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