A rediscovered land

I had dreamed of gentle libraries -

I woke to a London sky -

A Bloomsbury English with Sophie and Wallace -

We walked amongst creatives towards Russell Square -

Glossy ubers passed us -

A German auteur was showing at The Curzon -

I'd forgotten the taste of this air -

How it filled me with excitement and longing -

When I walked with Sophie and Wallace, I walked in a rediscovered land -

I unfolded a map I thought I had lost -

Bloomsbury 

August 2025

The three of us becoming memory

Wallace read the Metro wearing his Sakka shirt -

Sophie sat nearby - 

A dry wind swept over the platform -

The air smelled of dust and electricity -

I knew this station -

The tiles of its curving walls -

The fearful descent of the lift -

We waited for the train -

The three of us, becoming memory - 

Warren Street 

August 2025

At Tropea

Sophie and I ate almond croissants in Caffè Tropea -

Hearing the Italian waiters, I remembered Rome -

Our breakfasts by the Tiber - 

The first espresso - 

Warm morning light fell through the leaves of the plane trees -

Wallace was playing football at Cally Road -

Sophie smiled -

I counted all the stories I had to tell -

So many -

I lost them in her smile -

Tropea 

Russell Square

August 2025

At the London Generator

A cool dude checked me in -

There were jazzy murals, an Italian girl behind the bar -

Some muted techno - 

A pool table was bathed in dim light -

A flat screen showed young gods scoring impeccable goals -

Young Americans sipped flat whites -

I had walked here from Warren Street -

Walking half in memory -

Remembering the Northern Line, the fallen leaves on Highgate pavements -

I read a gritty page from a foxed Rebus - 

Waited for my darlings - 

When I saw them, I was mute once more with love -

The London Generator 

August 2025

Soho twilight

Tipsy girls sashshayed down Greek Street -

Outside The Three Greyhounds, a cycle rickshaw driver waited for fares -

A burnished BMW slid past us -

Chinese girls nibbled Portuguese custard tarts -

Above a narrow door, neon letters said Girls Girls Girls -

We chose gelatos from a sumptuous array of flavours -

Sat in Old Compton Street - 

Myself, with my darlings, in Soho twilight - 

Soho

August 2025

Walking with my younger self

We walked across Russell Square -

Behind us, the dark reef of the hotel -

Plane trees shaded the path -

The fountains were stilled -

This was the heart of my city of memory and dream -

I'd stretched out here on the summer grass -

I'd held a book open in my hand -

Looked up, between shining leaves, at a flawless sky -

Now I walked with my daughter and grandson past serene facades -

I knew each door, each gracious window -

Following us, invisible and slender, my younger self -

Close to me, almost touching, murmuring in my ear, still beautiful - 

Russell Square 

London 

August 2025

Waking to love

Anne was first in the river -

I watched her swim, her body dear to me, barely stirring the water -

Poplar trees touched the summer sky -

I remembered seeing her swimming from a windswept beach -

Standing afterwards on the sand -

Throwing back her hair -

Behind us were orchards, churches in quiet villages, a sunlit room -

The thought that every morning we would wake to love -

Salisbury 

August 2025