Sunday, November 4, 2012

Russell Square


Did Virginia Woolf pause
among the gardens
on her way to the lighthouse?
Did Thackeray walk silently
and consider vanity? And
did Eliot stroll across the paths,
resting in the green grass
of the waste land? And if you
sat on a bench that July
could you hear the bombing?
So intent was I to reach
Shakespeare Staging the World
at the museum that I almost
missed the exhibit of pigeons
bathing in the fountain.

Russell Square is one of the squares in the Bloomsbury section of London, a longish block from the British Museum. The Russell Square tube station was where the underground train was headed from King’s Cross station in July, 2005, when it was bombed by terrorists.

Photograph: Russell Square fountain, via Number One London.

2 comments:

Louise Gallagher said...

Oh wow.

Anonymous said...

Surrounded
by events that cause a splash
and historical reminders
One can miss a lot
like a horse with blinders