Sunday, December 11, 2011

Overheard in Hampstead Heath today

"I just want to live somewhere nicer."
- A woman in an expensive coat, walking along toward Swain's lane and talking on her mobile.

He: "You're just standing up for yourself then, aren't you?"
She: "Yeah, I guess so. I'm just getting what I want. That's what people do, isnt't it? Just take what they need?"
He: "Yeah."
- A young couple walking back from the market.

Monday, October 10, 2011

The recollection of perspective

The squeal of the steel gate splits my ears and concentration,
breaking my brief enjoyment of a half-petalled hydrangea's head.

How did I become this - all metal gates and distraction -
when once I was unfenced wilderness, big sky?

Was I ever that? Or did I fear it?
Is this London garden gate the dead end of my defences,
the prison to which I fled?

The sky turns, and so do I, tiny on the planet's edge.
Vast midnight waits - but here and there, a star.