the breath of London

Tags

'scape, 2008, blackbird, breath, buildings, cars, chimney, doors, Eglinton Hill, grey, light, London, morning, passing, quiet, red, sky, time

 

 

 

                                the breath of London

                                the four storey station at the top of the hill
                                once housed fire engines high on their tyres
                                all buffed red and waiting behind folding doors

                                are flats now; while up by the chimneys a blackbird
                                sings various songs as the cars pass variegated
                                along in the quiet morning light under low grey sky

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

blackbird wormhole: Plumstead – Woolwich – Plumstead 290508 – / the breath of London
breath wormhole: after all?
buildings & passing & sky wormhole: com- / mute
cars wormhole: sit
chimney wormhole: now, the verticals go down as well as they go up
doors wormhole: Summertime, 1943
Eglinton Hill wormhole: 1963
grey wormhole: 2 pm
light wormhole: Compartment C, Car 193, 1938
London wormhole: 50 mph
morning wormhole: Le Pont des Arts, 1907
red wormhole: gre[wh]y / has Daddy left us?
time wormhole: all along the blue sky

 

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lifetime

Tags

2008, angle, change, dawn, feeling sorry for myself, gaze, identity, life, looking, notice, others, pavement, rooftops, speech, wonder

 

 

 

                                              lifetime

                           I look and I gaze and wonder
                           but I don’t notice

                           lives shift and change but
                           I am quiet and not noticed

                           I see dawns over rooftops
                           I see angles from the pavement

                           but no one else notices;
                           and then I speak

                           and everyone continues
                           to listen to themselves

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

change wormhole: new year’s eve 2014; train up to London to / walk the bridges across the Thames, and / listen to the voices say it is, and was, like, / but get back home before the fireworks / obliterate it all in the emptying twilight
dawn wormhole: dawn
identity & speech wormhole: 1963
life & rooftops wormhole: up here
looking wormhole: [start where you are III] – delve
others wormhole: time proceeds

 

To my Mum

Tags

1970s, 1974, 2008, breathing, brown, Burt Bacharach, clothes, clouds, Dionne Warwick, evening, field, floorboards, friends, green, grey, horizon, houses, journey, kitchen, laughing, Mum, Plumstead common, rain, relationship, sky, smile, snow, streetlight, streets, Thames, time, tv, walking, white, windows, Woolwich, work, yellow

 

 

 

To my Mum who breathed deep the day she got a good set of saucepans in her pantry in 1974.   To my Mum who walked the long tunnel at Woolwich to and from work every day for twenty five years.   To my Mum who smiled on Plumstead Common when the white clouds were on the horizon and the grey cloud seamless in all the windows.   To my Mum who ate chops and beans every evening to hold off weight but who always wore smart coats.   To my Mum who was never quite sure if it was OK to laugh and relax in the seventies as the possibility suggested,

                – yes, it was okay,

and every time she did,
there were plastic raincoats in the evening high street,
there was Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach,
there were floorboards and wooden stepladders and wallpaper,
there were empty milk bottles on the doorstep,
there was a thin of snow on the housing estate under the green grey sky,
there were bowls of crisps and crackers and twiglets for the Cup Final,
there were high sash windows overlooking the Thames,
there were phone wires in front of the skies where she would never go
there were car journeys on wet roads by deep green fields,
there were yellow streetlights of new relationships and new-found friends,
there were bulbous patterns of brown and green to match the seasons.

My Mum cried when it all went wrong but went to work anyway.

 

To my Mum, who died 20th March 1999, far too early to realise the extent of her own patience and the width of her generosity; who typed up invoices for cargo ships in and out of London and taught me to leave three spaces after a full stop, which I honour to this day.

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

1974 wormhole: 1974
breathing & green & horizon & streetlight & white & work & yellow wormhole: 1959 –– MANHATTAN –– 2012
brown wormhole: the dash is magnificent / the shadow grotesque
[Burt] Bacharach & Dionne Warwick wormhole: 1962
clouds wormhole: purpose
evening wormhole: after the storm
field wormhole: the edge has come …
grey wormhole: hinged
houses & white wormhole: bottom of Herbert Road to the / foot of Eglinton Hill dream
kitchen & sky & snow & streets & walking wormhole: dream 260713
Mum wormhole: just words wiped across a line
rain wormhole: the four whores of the apocalypse
Thames wormhole: H e a v e
time wormhole: between
tv wormhole: Plumstead – Woolwich 121114
Woolwich wormhole: Woolwich Central – making life better II

 

Plumstead – Woolwich – Plumstead 290508 – / the breath of London

Tags

2008, 2014, age, birdsong, blackbird, boy, breath, buildings, Canary Wharf, cars, child, chimney, crane, distance, dog, downhill, Eaglesfield Road, Eglinton Hill, eyes, garden, grey, growing, hands, hedge, hill, identity, light, London, morning, mother, mouth, passing, pavement, Plum Lane, Plumstead, posture, Powis Street, red, river, shadow, sky, smoke, speech, starlings, step, streets, time, truck, Victorian houses, walking, Woolwich

 

 

 

                           Plumstead – Woolwich – Plumstead 290508 –
                           the breath of London

                           the four storey station at the top of the hill
                           once housed fire engines high on their tyres
                           all buffed red and waiting behind folding doors
                           are flats now; while up by the chimneys a blackbird
                           sings various songs as the cars pass variegated
                           along in the quiet morning light under low grey sky

                           Victorian houses stand four dimensions wide
                           and chimney flue and pipework deep are also flats
                           as starlings fight without let without resolve
                           in the overgrown privacy in front the front garden
                           when the loading crane on the building supply
                           truck lurches wrenching over the speed hump

                           downhill two young boys stalk around the front garden
                           perched on the brick pillars by the steep pavement
                           and Canary Wharf tower has new buildings around it
                           like slow plumes of smoke from a distance; forty years
                           now and my shadow is still stumpy walking before
                           me and my left ear still sticks out noticeably …

                           when the hill turns flat we walk by the water reading
                           hoardings announcing Woolwich re-generation
                           along Powis Street where the child veers along
                           in a straight line c’mere darlin’ c’mere ‘cos I can’t
                           ‘andle that when you ignore me, you know I can’t
                           ‘andle that darlin’ … doosyatold … get off

                           walking the dog white trainers hat back jaw out eyes
                           half-closed mouth slightly open – seen – hand out
                           thumb loose seven steps grasp hold while the greeting
                           happen huugg! – ‘the road is long …’; there, bellies out
                           hanging some pregnant one hanging and pregnant
                           striped tank-top still with ponytail but about my age

                           “I will step – ” slight push heel up left foot swing
                           w-i-d-e from right leg shoulder twist evenly in step
                           alternately arms out “ – because this is all I have to
                           show f’m’self”; truck: “A tool for every job” teeth
                           too big for his mouth mouthing at the young mothers
                           pushing their buggies before him as he changes gear

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

blackbird wormhole: afternoon 290613
breath wormhole: plethora: the Dark Knight Strikes Again (2002)
buildings & streets & time wormhole: ‘anyway / is it all just / a dream?’
cars wormhole: bass and piano
child wormhole: letters to Mum V – carrying on in duty and love
chimney & garden wormhole: corroboration
crane wormhole: letters to Mum I – a walk / and talk
dog wormhole: the retriever the daughter and the mother
Eglinton Hill & light & Plumstead & shadow wormhole: Plumstead – Woolwich 121114
eyes wormhole: I need to keep my eyes open / in meditation
grey & London wormhole: 1967
hands wormhole: Dr Strange I – the trashcan tilted the better to see now the street
hedge wormhole: oh-pen too
identity wormhole: yet another sprain / of ‘Jingle Bells’ straining / to propagate yet another / tired Christmas spirit – … / ‘sanner clawsis coming t’ taunn – yeah’ in a / coffee shop with condensation / running off the snowflake transfers / and the iphone at the next table / talking how 50 means 900 a month – not worth / the drive (left his scarf behind – / collateral) … about my age
morning & Woolwich wormhole: hint
mother wormhole: Dr Strange III – the needs of billions
mouth wormhole: the Avengers
passing wormhole: smiling
posture wormhole: – sigh! –
red wormhole: a light rosé
river wormhole: capes flying
sky wormhole: the Last Day of Morecambe Illuminations
speech wormhole: ‘“Never,” said the Sandman; / he blinked …’
Victorian houses: deepening with each step
walking wormhole: knees

 

out!

Tags

'scape, 2008, 5*, field, game, girl, muse, portrait, sun

 

 

 

                                on the slight slope
                                of the sunny field

                                stalking down
                                after the ball

                                the girl hinged over
                                like an A and

                                flicked a perfect
                                line back

                                through her legs
                                to second base

                                              – out!

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

game wormhole: the / pyrrhic / play
field wormhole: train journey
girl wormhole: street
muse wormhole: London
sun wormhole: 1971

 

waiting

Tags

2008, 5*, being, block, creativity, identity, talking to myself, writing

 

 

 

            stop waiting

                           for the time
                           when it all falls
                           together to write
                                                      anything

            haven’t had a creative discovery for ages haven’t been
            seduced into a green-wine find for such a long time
                           like tripping and finding you didn’t fall
                                          and actually you caught yourself
                                                      right – oh! – there

                                                                      anyway

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

being & creativity & writing wormhole: I will
[writer’s] block wormhole: “write, let’s break / outta here!”
identity wormhole: indignantly
talking to myself wormhole: pep talk

 

Batman 168

Tags

1964, 2008, 6*, afternoon, Batman, buildings, city, glass, identity, Infantino, red, Saturday, windows

 

 

 

                                          Batman 168

                                on a late Saturday afternoon
                                the Batman was already tired

                                and high up in the redbrick building
                                the will to see the way through the fight

                                was lost and
                                he succumbed

                                to hang in the air awhile with the broken shards of glass
                                above Infantino’s languid city

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

1964 wormhole: 1964
Batman wormhole: ‘I am the Riddler …’
afternoon wormhole: autumn
buildings wormhole: 1970s
city & Infantino wormholes: only
glass wormhole: The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get (1973) – tribute
identity wormhole: there is
Infantino wormhole: only
red wormhole: 1974 – Greens / End Woolwich
Saturday wormhole: … Saturday arrived
windows wormhole: knees

 

double glazing

Tags

'scape, 2008, 5*, combe end, dog, night, sound, wind, windows

 

 

 

                           double glazing

                I open the window
                at night

                nothing

                the air shifts
                and far in the

                distance a dog is
                barking

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

combe end & windows wormhole: ‘8:30 kitchen …’
dog wormhole: house / opposite
night wormhole: wakey wakey / time to get up
sound wormhole: 1970 // just now
wind wormhole: the Eiffel Tower

 

the Reader (2008)

Tags

2008, 2012, 20th century, 4*, film, Kate Winslet

Film: the Reader (2008); director: Stephen Daldry; actors: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes

 

 

 

                                              a mood-al
                                spread over a nation’s psychology
                                Kate Winslet holding a gaunt throughout
                      does nudity so naturally and acceptingly of herself
                      being beautiful by not trying to be beautiful
Hanna Schmitt coming from an emotional land which is hard to read
            but forgivable because she is clean and direct in her communication
                      naive opening to the wonder of other
                                     living in an apartment with orange net curtains and screens
life emerging from a totalitarian landscape
                           coinciding with life emerging from adolescence for Michael
            then the true revelations, the twin revelations:
her illiteracy her life as a guard during the holocaust
                                do these militate the beauty of her naivete
            is there a link between her illiteracy and her culpability
                does the defence of ‘following orders’ reach to those in charge
     can Michael still love that open naivete that allowed her to discharge her duty efficiently
                                   did she reach atonement when she learnt to read

          she stepped up on her stacked books to hang herself
                                she grew to understand her life and took it
          her bare feet sticking to the book covers as she adjusted

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

20^th century wormhole: supermarkets
film wormhole: Have

 

almost-Escher

Tags

'scape, 2008, 4*, bedroom, brown, cars, clouds, combe end, kitchen, red, squirrel, streets, sun, willow, windows

 

 

 

                      almost-Escher

            foreground: a three-wicked
            candle shimmering
            through its walls before

            the creosoted fence
            past the wing of the
            willow tree hanging
            across the street
            a break in the clouds
            somewhere lights the windows
            of the upstairs bedrooms
            while a car reverse-parks
            in front and

            a squirrel stops
            on the creosote fence
            one paw up at his chest waiting
            for the sun to shine
                      again

 

 

 

^{————w}(O)rmholes_________________________________|—–

bedroom wormhole: ‘finished reading …’
brown wormhole: 1972
cars wormhole: ‘after …’
clouds wormhole: the moon
combe end wormhole: ‘at night …’
kitchen & willow wormhole: then
red wormhole: retirement
squirrel wormhole: when things fall apart
streets wormhole: ‘left now …’
sun wormhole: ‘a spark …’
windows wormhole: ‘turning right …’