London

THE ARMCHAIR GLOBETROTTER

Tell me what it’s like, she said.
When you go to London, take some pictures,
write down your impressions,
let me see what you are seeing…

But of course, everyone does not see the same thing,
nor find a visit to a museum or the theatre
especially compelling,
or is interested in a city’s history.

Hello hello from London, I’m in a pub,
it’s raining, my wallet got stolen!
Am on my way by train to Paris,
sorry, no time to write, see you in 3 weeks,
Love, J.
P.S. Can you send money?

Must one actually have to go somewhere
to absorb the atmosphere of a place?
Can’t it be vicariously, by way of random photos,
or someone’s stories, that one can see the streets
of London, bridges of Prague, the markets of Bombay;
or snow-capped mountains, silent desert, balmy seashore;
ancestors' graveyard, teeming ghetto or screaming war zone?

And why just places? Why not time periods:
times past, times ongoing, times possible,
that allow immersion with life beyond
the confines of our paltry physical limitations;
through words and images that jar a memory
or unspoken wish, to open a floodgate
of curiosity and aspiration.

Being where you are doesn’t mean you can’t, sometimes,
be There, too, at the same time.

Hello, London.

-- Annie Wyndham




Thanks to Luis L. Tijerina of Burlington, Vermont for permission to post these three photos taken during his trip to London last year.
Luis has made a 2009 calendar of his London photos, of which there are about 10 copies left.

If you would like one, you can email him at andropov@verizon.net
The cost is $12.95 plus postage.

Thank you, Luis, for allowing me,
through your magnificent photographs, to visit a city I will probably never get to see.




[If you look carefully at the photo up on the right, you can see the photographer reflected in the storefront window.]