seanessay.com …The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there… L.P. Hartley, 1953 Hello from my London holiday! Do you and I have racism? You might reply, “Not-me!” I might reply, “Not exactly,” because certain justice warriors would say that every man, woman and child raised in North America has racism—regardless of their […]
Meeting a Man and His Dog in London
seanessay.com So there I was, in London under a dismal sky… trotting to catch the end of the walk signal, closing up behind a man with his leashed dog—and ya, I was judgmental over his lack of traffic punctuality: even though I was slow too. Once across, we had a block-long grassy park on our […]
Bouncing Through London at the Speed of Sight
How to travel? Don’t ask me, for if anything is individual, that would be traveling. Here is a composite (made up) conversation: I was amazed at the married couple who traveled and didn’t fight. “Back home,” they said, “we have all our expectations worked out. Traveling means new negotiations… and to our wonderment, we were […]
Jane’s Tears Forgotten Like Rain
seanessay.com When I awoke this morning Jane was alive. I took the subway to Leicester Square and walked down in a light rain past my favourite London alley, one that passed for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. I like how for we the living, amidst the grey, fantasy brightens things up. The “Diagon” […]
A Sting, a Song, and a Seat At Gail’s
seanessay.com View from Gail’sBlog Identification, with songsStinging Afterthoughts View I’m having light food and coffee at a steel-topped long table at Gail’s. Her cafe is affordable, although it’s within easy walking distance of the Thames river in the middle of town. While much of Central London has buildings of grey stone with high carvings, here, […]
London With Metaphor, Without Light
seanessay.com “To me, poetry and prayer walk hand in hand” Jericho Brown I ask you: What if I traveled like a poet, seeing by metaphor, noticing what I notice? Maybe I would notice that, while walking around today, I didn’t “ooh and awe” over buildings, and that it helped when I stopped and looked at […]