butterfly of london
here am i
the circus streets
i had to try
never in my dreamland
was it as real as feels
now i’m home

here’s the Victoria Albert
the Kings Road is right at my door
i walk to the Mews of the Queen Mum
you just can’t know
what it means
to adore

a place i can never
really belong
the one place i finally
hear my heart’s song
i’m sorry i had to go so far away
to be me
but i did.

(more or less to lullaby of birdland)

This work composed on a base photograph by the absolutely superb Evelyn Hoefer, appearing in her collaboration with V.S. Pritchett, London Perceived, which found me through the magical power the Sequoya Branch Library Book Sale, answering my prayer for a photographic record capturing the London I believe my mother dreamed of finding. Note that the 1962 NYT review I have linked to here is by Philip Toynbee, for crying out loud.