London

July 17, 2011

Russell Hotel, London, fancy remodeled room, same crappy view. Except now I’m on the 2nd floor and get to pass the wonderful brass dragon every day. The shower squirts out at several levels, affording sensations which I must explore further at home. Strolled through the bright evening (after a day of deluge) to the Trafalgar Studio to see Simon Callow in Being Shakespeare. The premise and the script are not strong, but the opportunity to see an actor I have always admired working at the top of his form, shifting seamless from one character to another, was well worth it. What Callow and his like have cannot be taught. Left the theater and wandered in Trafalgar Square, where children were climbing on the happy lions and the towers of Parliament loomed down Whitehall. It was lyrical and sweet, and I was happy being there. Met J in a bar off Trafalgar.




The Trafalgar Lions



Let us consider the lions of Trafalgar Square,
which are the happiest lions in the world,
clamored over by the thousand children,
the goofy ferocity on their faces fooling no one.

From the gull on Lord Nelson’s admiral’s hat
to the candy-coated pavement there reigns,
therefore, mirth.
It might have been otherwise, of course.

Shrugging off a few toddlers with a flick of
colossal shoulders would have
brought all that to an end,
or a sign saying “Keep Off.”

But the wise lions, facing eternity
one way or another, chose laughter
and the caress of buttocks
and the flashing infinitude of cameras.

One to the others midnights whispers
from the black bronze bellows of his throat,
“Fierce beasts of Nineveh and Thebes are gone.
We could have done much worse.”