BIRTHDAY IMAGES

One cornflower blue afternoon
In late summer
2001,
On my 57th birthday,
In Room 106
Of the Hotel Bellevue
In Cadenabbia
On the western shore of Lake Como,
Still hazy from a post-prandial siesta,
I turn on the TV, a Sony.

As one does.

Some far-fetched disaster movie,
Dubbed in Italian,
Is being screened.

An aeroplane crashes into a tall building
And explodes in a ball of orange.
Billowing smoke daubs the sky
Dirty grey on cerulean.

I point the remote – press PROG +.

The same movie is playing,
But now in German.

Somewhat implausibly
A second aircraft
Flies into another skyscraper.

Ennuyé, I channel-hop again,
And again,
Until CNN reveals

A reality far grimmer than fiction.

This year on my birthday
A glorious day in late summer,
The sky a flawless azure,
I take a spin on the London Eye
And look across to
Telecom Tower,
Canary Wharf,
Big Ben,
And wonder
Who will be next?

And where?

And when?