Anna's Inkwell - Journal

Journal

London Calling
A. Chan

Footsteps patter on the marble slabs,
along the beat of the bongo drums
The watery, fluid twangs of that jazz guitar
the sensual flow spilling over the saxophone's widened jaw.

You can never tell where I am
in this town of many colors,
sights and sounds,
of broken hearts and unspoken words.

Here are where cultures clash,
histories and ages passed.
Life among ruins, death can only loom
Behind this vibrant present.

Leicester Square, London, June 1997

Notes by the Author

I went to London for a week immediately after graduating from college. I was going through a lot around that time: my mom was very sick in the hospital, my routine in life was thrown askew (out of the lecture hall and into the real world!), I had a job opportunity in Switzerland that I had passed up, and I was in a forbidden and tumultuous relationship. Needless to say, London was sort of a getaway for me, a week to ponder what I was to do with my life, and how my choices would change everything. While I was in London, I noticed how much the new melded with the old. New buildings were built on top of ancient Roman ruins. Ethnic street performers entertained amidst traditional structures such as the National Gallery and the British Museum. I thought to myself that there had to be a way to rebuild myself, to bury the past and start anew.