I name this boat ‘Cirrhosis’
It’s part of my neurosis;
And when at last it sinks
I’m finished with the drinks.
© WHB . . . Originally published on this blog in 2016
Cirrhosis Of The River
Tag Archives: River Thames
Escape From Reality
Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on the deep blue Thames
Heading to I know not where
But joyous to be just there
A winter’s day, With time to spare
No promises to keep
I’ll tone my body, air my lungs,
Before I fall asleep
I am content
I’ve found a place
In silent space
Where life cannot torment
Five ‘Isolation’ Pastiches: #1
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com
Each day this week I will publish a short 4-line verse, each one commencing with a well-known line, sometimes adapted to suit the context, from a renowned published poem. The general theme is that of Isolation.
Wordsworth’s Lucy: Pastiche #1
( ‘She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways’: by William Wordsworth )
I dwell along untrodden ways
Beside the River Thames.
I teach myself to live alone,
And write poetic gems.
London
[ Photo Gallery # 88 }
A few of my photographic memories of a stroll through central London and the City on a beautiful warm summer’s day in 2005.
Looking upriver from Waterloo Bridge towards Big Ben, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament
Looking down-river from Waterloo Bridge towards St.Paul’s Cathedral and the City
View of St.Paul’s Cathedral across the River Thames from the top of the Tate Modern Gallery
The dome of St.Paul’s Cathedral looking north across the Millennium Footbridge
The dome of St.Paul’s Cathedral looking north across the Millennium Footbridge – 2
View to the east from the Millennium Footbridge towards Tower Bridge
B
Street entertainer on the South Embankment of the Thames – Waterloo Bridge in the background
Office block in the City
London Guildhall – exterior
London Guildhall – interior – the excavated remains of the Roman Amphitheatre discovered beneath the foundations of the Guildhall.
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River Thames Sunsets
A selection of my photographs, taken on different occasions between 2004 and 2010, of sunsets – looking westwards from the south bank of the River Thames along the four mile stretch of the River in Surrey, England, between Chertsey and Walton-on-Thames . . .
… And Then There Were Four
London, Victoria Embankment, late 19th Century … Pen & Wash – WHB – 2014
Late autumn evening
treading wet leaves
on the broad embankment
beside the dark river;
starry sky
and the pavement spotted
with lights
dark pools between
those balustrade sentries
the eighty year old
yablochkov candles
(the country’s very first
electric street lights)
still throwing the trees’ shadows
across the road
to Victoria’s gardens.
Perhaps memory twists my tale;
mike, dave, wally, ray,
with me five of us,
fresh lads
freshers too
up from the far country
to study
to see the big city
to re-start a life
men now
together
soliciting knowledge
tempting experience.
Interned for a Chelsea month,
then the anticipated incursion,
our first excursion
into the great city
set for new challenges
no plan
just exploration;
for the moment
nothing cerebral
just life in the moment
flâneurs
awaiting a happening
neophytic
greenhorns.
Walking where Victoria walked,
or did she ever really
enjoy her gardens by the river?
thrilling evening
walking that promenade,
drinking the sights
eating the sounds
devouring the smells and tastes
soaking up the river
and the beer,
Victoria’s Embankment Gardens.
We didn’t know it then
nor did any of us suspect
it was to be ray’s swan song
sweet Thames run softly
and be his swan song.
Turned up Villiers Street,
Kipling’s and Evelyn’s street,
tumbled into The Trafalgar,
seedy then,
well, rare student prices,
waitress in black and white
I remember
the white cap with lace
and black band
the tiny white apron
on black dress
alluringly short
wiping her hands
by rubbing them seductively
on her aproned thighs,
“what can I get you lads?”
… ribaldry …
ray “what time do you finish?”
… her answer
no more than a half-smile;
After the spam fritters
and the glorious knickerbockers
and more small pink hands
attentive hands
rubbed clean
on lacy white apron,
ray’s eyes never taken off them
then drinks
nothing heavy.
Ray fell
must have done
from a great height
smitten I would say
to his adam’s apple core,
eyes only for a pretty face
and those lacy edges.
Conversation ricocheted
across the tables
voices spurted out their verbiage
as those yablochkov candles
expended their light,
more raucous than uncouth.
Then the attempt to close
to dispense with customers
we head for the street
ray stays in his seat
“’bye chaps, I’ll see you.”
… But he never did.
Nor we him.
Ever again.
The Thames Embankment is a work of 19th Century civil engineering which reclaimed marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It follows the North Bank of the river from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge.
The Victoria Embankment Gardens , built also in the latter part of the 19th Century, separate the embankment and the road running alongside from the buildings on the south side of Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and The Strand.
Villiers Street is a short connecting thoroughfare, now mainly pedestrianised, running from the Thames Embankment and Embankment underground Station uphill to the Strand, Charing Cross Mainline Railway Station and Trafalgar Square. It contains many restaurants and eating establishments.
The Trafalgar Café, however, can no longer be found there.
Building Bridges
New bridge over the River Thames, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, U.K.
BUILDING BRIDGES
Aiding Access
Tying Terrains
Serving States
Linking Lovers
Attaching Allies
Binding Borders
Heralding Heroes
Binding Believers
Enabling Escapees
Nurturing Nations
Trading Trackways
Creating Comrades
Mending Marriages
Merging Merchants
Following Frontiers
Uniting Unbelievers
Delivering Destinies
Creating Conquerors
Allowing Assemblies
Nourishing Networks
Connecting Countries
Exacerbating Enemies
Empowering Explorers
Engineering Encounters
Inculcating Interrelations
Combining Confederations
Constructing Concordances
Regenerating Relationships
Perpetuating Possessiveness
. . . &, of course, … REKINDLING RELATIONSHIPS !!!
Below I have included a Photo Gallery of just a few BRIDGES which I have been inspired to photograph over the years. The title of each one will appear as you hover the mouse over any single photograph. Click on any one to see a slide-show of all of them.
Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales
Canal Bridge in Bruges, Belgium
Egton, N.Yorkshire – 3 Bridges together
Beggar’s Bridge over the R.Esk, N.Yorkshire
Great Western Canal, Tiverton, Devon
London-S.Bank Millennium Bridge
Pack Horse Bridge-Bas relief in Wood
Painshill Park, Surrey
Poole Harbour, Dorset
Bridge Over The Atlantic, Seil Island, Scotland
Pack Horse Bridge, Stokesley, N.Yorkshire
Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy
Roland's Ragbag 