{"id":10646,"date":"2022-04-27T21:15:20","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T20:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuartpoetry.art\/?p=10646"},"modified":"2022-04-27T21:15:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T20:15:20","slug":"bath-poems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/27\/bath-poems\/","title":{"rendered":"Bath Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caf\u00e9 Bath<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coffee and walnut cake<\/p>\n

Tea lightly brewed<\/p>\n

We are settling down for a while<\/p>\n

Before we explore the City of the Caesars<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bath Caf\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today the sky was classically grey and the lingering drizzle did nothing to improve its tired flow<\/p>\n

Tourists some from afar huddled under colourful umbrellas and obediently followed their tour guides as they explored my damp dank city<\/p>\n

I was sitting at the window of the Bath Caf\u00e9 watching these brave people pass by<\/p>\n

Occasionally a red tour bus broke the monotony of the hour with its upper deck quite vacant<\/p>\n

You ought to visit this beautiful city in the summer<\/em><\/p>\n

It retains its beauty all year but especially in the summer<\/em><\/p>\n

The buildings glow in the low sun as the day slips away<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh summer days so far away yet so near<\/em><\/p>\n

An elderly woman entered the caf\u00e9 after she had tied her miserable dog to one of the iron tables outside<\/p>\n

The poor creature watched me drink my coffee for a while before it sought deeper shelter<\/p>\n

In the summer these tables would be full<\/em><\/p>\n

But not today my little friend<\/em><\/p>\n

Because like you and I these people are seeking sanctuary<\/em><\/p>\n

Let the chatter begin<\/em><\/p>\n

I order another coffee and am served by a scrawny youth wearing a faded Superman tee shirt<\/p>\n

Down from mountains I see<\/em><\/p>\n

The youth smiles weakly but I know that he has not understood my joke<\/p>\n

We are usually much busier on wet days such as today\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I finish in an hour<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps it will pick up before then<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you a student at the university?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes I am in my final year<\/em><\/p>\n

Where are you from?<\/em><\/p>\n

Middlesbrough<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you like Bath<\/em><\/p>\n

It is a beautiful city and the people are so pleasant<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you a visitor<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes and no I was born here but live far away<\/em><\/p>\n

I visit the city of my dreams quite frequently<\/em><\/p>\n

I suppose you could call me a home based visitor<\/em><\/p>\n

The elderly woman who was visibly irritated called the youth to her table<\/p>\n

Teacakes there are no teacakes on the menu today<\/em><\/p>\n

I always have teacakes on a Thursday<\/em><\/p>\n

What about your poor dog I say silently to myself<\/em><\/p>\n

February is a strange month as it is almost touching spring but it also can be the most savage of months with bitingly cold days followed by snow<\/p>\n

On my journey into the city I noticed that snowdrops were beginning to emerge and that the new green leaves of March and April could just be seen<\/p>\n

The leaf slurry from the autumn was gradually vanishing into the general detritus of the season although the trees were still bare and quite wretched<\/p>\n

Near the caf\u00e9 there is a clothing shop called Aphrodite which I consider is a strange name as at present the window displays thick fisherman\u2019s sweaters and jeans to match all in high chic<\/p>\n

Perhaps in the summer the window will display gossamer blouses fit for the season and bohemian skirts of many colours<\/p>\n

But it is not the clothing that interests me but the hanging basket which are full of imported blooms<\/p>\n

Each day I am told the owner of the shop waters these doomed flowers no matter the weather and as the bright petals begin to wilt she replaces them<\/p>\n

\u00a0Almost on a daily basis<\/p>\n

Such is her devotion to colour<\/p>\n

Today the display appears to be in its prime but I know that the sad flowers if they could think or perceived emotion would be considering the warm and humble breezes of their infancy<\/p>\n

Six months ago I was living in a hotel room which had extensive views of the desert<\/p>\n

No matter what the hour was I always kept my main windows open such was the heat of the area and it was not unusual for members of my research team to join me for refreshments on the main veranda of the hotel in the early hours of the morning<\/p>\n

We all lived in our shirts and shorts<\/p>\n

Today that is a distant memory and I look at my overcoat hanging proudly on the coat stand<\/p>\n

At present we are connected for when I leave this little caf\u00e9 I will need the coat as the wind is turning towards the north<\/p>\n

Hour by hour<\/p>\n

That might bring snow<\/p>\n

Bath looks even more beautiful in the snow although it has been many years since I have witnessed such an event<\/p>\n

The elderly woman has left the caf\u00e9 taking her miserable dog with her<\/p>\n

The scrawny youth who was wearing a faded Superman tee shirt has also left the caf\u00e9 and a women of intermediate years has replaced him<\/p>\n

I order my final coffee from her knowing that within the hour I will also have to leave this comfortable seat by the window and make my way back to my lodgings as I have many papers to consider<\/p>\n

My addiction to coffee will carry me though the many pages and after my exploration I might just visit this caf\u00e9 again just to take the cold air and watch the nighthawks of the city pass by<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2018<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

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Caf\u00e9 Bath Coffee and walnut cake Tea lightly brewed We are settling down for a while Before we explore the City of the Caesars   Bath Caf\u00e9 Today the sky was classically grey and the lingering drizzle did nothing to improve its tired flow Tourists some from afar huddled under colourful umbrellas and obediently followed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10647,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10646\/revisions\/10647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}