U) I Came Away High

I came away high.

My backwater world is pretty.
But nothing is high.
We've got lakes and rivers and seas
But not very high
We get vertigo very quick
And skyscrapers make us feel sick
But nothing is high
Not very high
Plenty of sky.

Decided to see our capital town. Been too long up north.
Five hours south to foreign land
Oceans apart without crossing water.
Different colours, different culture,
Different people, different voice
To us everyone seemed strange
And yet to them we were invisible

Nelsons column has no place on the household screen
Television belittles its stature
Only standing in Trafalgar looking up
Do you get a feel for its height.

Leicester square cornered by tall buildings
Large open forum
No feeling of being penned
Penned work recited
Bible recited in rap
Is this what God meant by speaking in tongues?

And in Piccadilly Eros firing arrows of love
One hit me fair and square
Embarked on a lifetime affair
I'm in love with London.

Twenty-foot high horses.
Just round the corner from Waterstones
Equine sculptured perfection
Bronze marvel
Hooves raised above tourists head
Waiting to pound them into oblivion.
But one gaze into magma-velvet eye
And gentleness looks down upon you.
No harm meant, no ill intent
Medusa frozen horses
Caught for eternity in mid flight

Met up with friends we don't know
Accepted without reproach
Loosened tongues aided by grain and grape
Friendships forged in a bear hug

Spiral staircase twisting down into dining paradise
Too tired to eat, but warmed by camaraderie and friendship.
Circular marble table, cool white, livered with swirls of darkened
grey.
A table that begged to be stroked.
Arthurian table of excellent company, a disk of memories
Surrounded on three sides by books. How perfect is that?

One sleep away lies Camden town, on an early Sunday morning
Uptown sophistication gone
This is the downtown fire of ethnic London.
Every nationality of people
Doing their thing
Unhindered by race or invasion
Everybody allowed their living
Two tattooed aliens walking free
Barely noticed
Amongst the collage of humanity
Hippies, Goths, and freaks of personal making
Wandering at liberty without even bothering to express their
individuality.
Just letting it tell itself
The smells of Camden market, Food from earth's secret recourses.
Sitting on uncomfortable chair, wobbly leg, inhaling Camden people,
Camden life
Steaming hot-chocolate thick, too strong, but good all the same.
Basic food hygiene certificate hanging on dingy stall.

Camden highstreet vendor
Selling gange right there
All your smoking needs and an arrow
Pointing to a hold-all at his feet
He had a sign and everything
Pot in a packet
Hope in a hold-all
He was high
Small London enterprise

My affair is with London
But my spirit will long for Camden.

I went to London and met people high in intellect
High of heart and high with life
I gazed at the architecture and was blown away
The buildings were so high
I went to London and came away high