London lives forever in my mind
a place of memory gathering
a sacred time where family
blends with long-held history
a son and new daughter wedding
an act of creation in the midst of ruin
vine-tangled walls a thousand years old
witness to life continuing
as a bold no to the bombs that sought
to end it all.

and then there was you
standing by the Thames
with the Tower Bridge behind
just being you with me
in the place that came to be
fresh and renewed together
mud-larking at low tide
or riding the waves between
St. Paul’s and the Shard
between the old and new
proving past gives way
to future’s promise
built solid on its banks.

and i know i over-think
and i know i over-love
i am prone to hyperbole
at the best of times
for no one is better at exaggeration
than me
but i am ok in my skin
in this place
at this time
with thoughts of Marx and Rosetti
and their tree crowded graves
drifting through my head
i am ok and we are ok
and the sun shines bright
in my eyes today.