THAT PEACEFUL PLACE:

A river, a tearoom, some smiles on greeting, a corner table
by the window with sunlight, good company, recounting stories,
catching up, re-connecting. Today I’m happy, on the other side
of the Moon. So far away from anywhere that it’s the quietest
place I know. Like when you leave your cell phone at home
or the internet stops working & that torrent of information
goes away for a day. Can you hear the sound of the world behind
the silence here? I can. Like that one time in the Sahara,
silence like no other, yeah, how could I forget about that?
Too busy dancing like a headless chicken to hear the moment
in the moment, but here, on the other side of the Moon, where
I once climbed the walls in frustration, fantasising about
worlds beyond the limits of my imagination, fuelled on colour
& speed, fantastic careers, intercontinental air travels,
the electric buzz of life on the other side of the tv screen.
I did all that longing here on the other side of the Moon,
desperate to leave & now I dream of resting here, between
the streets whose rhythms I’ve been able to predict since
I was three, whose people smile on meeting, drop a joke,
a look, a wink. Down by the river fishermen drift for the
weekend, children throw bread to ducks & the swans do what
that want. Danny Kay sings ‘Ugly ducking’. I look down at my
trainers, watching them walk up the alley to the chemists,
past the charity shops, the penny book stall, the bus stops
where we used to wait, the soles of my feet kissing the
pavements on the other side of the Moon when only a few
days ago they were kissed the stage at the Hollywood Bowl.

(K)