June 8th

John read a few lines from John Betjeman’s ‘Parliament Hill Fields’

in the fresh air this evening on the balcony.

The poet recalls a tram ride; a summer outing to Parliament Hill.



‘Outside Charringtons we waited by the ‘STOP HERE IF REQUIRED’,

Launched aboard the shopping basket, sat precipitately down,

Rocked past Zwanziger the baker’s and the terrace blackish brown,

And the curious Anglo Norman parish church of Kentish Town.

….

Oh the after tram ride quiet, when we heard a mile beyond,

Silver music from the bandstand, barking dogs by Highgate Pond;

Up the hill where stucco houses in Virginia Creeper drown-

And my childish wave of pity, seeing children carrying down

Sheaves of drooping dandelions to the courts of Kentish Town


I (helen) did not read tonight,but love thid poem,I remember picking dandelions for my mum and them drooping almost immediately!