April is National Poetry Month!

My compatriot, Hightouchmegastore, and I will be posting daily poems (for as long as we can keep it up!) over at our poem a day blog.
I'm working on a series of prose poems, Postcards from London. I've posted two of the ones I've written over there already. April is a good kick in the butt for me to finish these. I'm hoping they can become a chapbook at some point.
Please visit us over there during the month.

May the Last: In Which I Bid Farewell to London

May #9

May #8

May #7

May #5

May #4

May #3: British Museum

May #2

May

As you all know, I went to London in May, so all my pictures are of London. I have forgotten almost nothing about this trip. I will provide pictures which need no explanation.

I miss Cromwell News

When I was in London, I frequented a small shop called Cromwell News. It was right next door to our hostel. The water was cold, if over priced, and it was open late.
But that's not why I loved it or why I miss it now. I miss it because of the man who worked there. He always smiled and his eyes sparkled in the most cliched way possible. He always asked me questions about how I was and what I was doing. I never asked his name, but he made my time in London better, because I knew he would always smile at me. I wondered if it was just me, or if he smiled at everyone. He did smile at everyone, but sometimes when I walked past the shop, not going in, but on my way somewhere, he would see me and raise his eyebrows in greeting and smile.
On the day before my last day in London, I asked him why he was always so happy. I didn't fully understand his answer (he was from London, but he was Indian), but the upshot was: you have to make yourself happy. I think he said, "There's a war out there" and it was clear he wasn't specifically talking about Iraq or Afghanistan, but the world in general. "You can't let it get to you," he said.
Here was a guy with a fairly boring job (standing or sitting in a fairly small shop, selling postcards and water and souvenirs) and he just seemed to be blissful, in the true meaning of the word.
He said he wanted to go back to India, eventually, but he was content for now. No, not content, happy.
When we got up on Sunday to leave, Cromwell News was not yet open. I never told him good-bye, but I really, really liked him.
I hope I never forget the way his eyes smiled.

This is me by the Putney Street Bridge in Bath.




This is me at Stonehenge.



I saw this on the architectural walking tour of Bloomsbury.

Pints

This is a pint of Thatcher's Heritage, a cider. I drank this at Earth & Stars in Brighton.
















This is a pint of Deuchar's IPA. I drank this at Albert's near Victoria Station after Evensong at Westminster Abbey. We saw a man in a pinstripe suit with medals on his chest.
After this pint, I had a Greene King IPA.

You know how blogger uploads photos...so here they are, randomly.
This is my "outstanding value" which is a towel I got at Marks and Spencer so that I could shower. Yes, no towels at the hostel. Oh well. Now I have a bath towel and a hand towel and all is right in the universe.






This is the buffalo representing "America" in the Prince Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. You may not be able to see it, but the buffalo is being ridden by a "native American." According to this memorial there are 4 continents. All of them have fascinating animals.








First pub drinks in London (I had a Samuel Smith Old something Bitter). The other girls had cider, which was dry and delicious.












Parliment (blurry...). We saw a protest by Sri Lankans (?) about the recent deaths. It stopped traffic and there were many many police there. An educational experience to be sure.