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Behind the Iron Curtain in Leningrad & Moscow
April 1986
Witnessing a world
Behind an Iron Curtain
Shutters shut. Blinds down
Entrance permitted
But with movements restricted
Suspicion abounds
Cold, grey, colourless
Monochrome. Sepiatone
Spectrum hand-me-down
*
A first impression of Russia – Welcome to Leningrad
Late night arrival
Black sky, glist’ning snow – floodlights
A chill in the air
Airport reception
Machine guns cocked and ready
Soldiers unsmiling
Stationary line
Of frustrated travellers
At Passport Control
Eyes penetrating
Passport details scrutinised
Microscopically
Stationary line
Of frustrated travellers
At Customs Control
Eyes penetrating
Jew’ll’ry, books, pers’nal effects
Assessed, judged, counted
Bemused collection
Of frustrated travellers
At Baggage Control
Facing ‘Bag Mountain’
An ‘Everest’ of luggage
– No conveyor belt
Reprieved from Death Row
A rustbucket miracle
Is disguised as a bus
Smoking and rattling
A journey-worn veteran
Days numbered for years
First journey. First sights
Of Communist East foreground
From my West background
Comparisons galore
No neon ads, no traffic!
A city asleep
A tongue that’s unknown
A Cyrillic alphabet
What will daylight bring?
Destination reached
Hotel Mokba, Nevsky Prospekt
Our home for 3 days
Huge classic landmark
5 star decaying elegance
– That will do nicely
*
Pockmarked and wartorn
Damp and cold, black, white and grey
Still shows its scars
It’s ‘lived in’ and ‘worn’
History everywhere
Embedded in stone
*
Don Quixote
Energy. Poise. Grace
Stunning new experience
Ballet at Kirov
*
While waiting in queues
On escalators, buses
People reading books
*
Travelling underground
Deep within the permafrost
L O N G escalator!!!
*
Leningrad contrasts
City of Revolution
And of culture too
Peter, Catherine
Decembrists and Bolsheviks
Revolt, Purge and Siege
Kirov’s Nijinsky
Nureyev and Pavlova
Hermitage treasures
Neva’s Aurora
Island Fortress, Palace, Square
Smolny, Finland Station
Lenin, Shostakovich
Intellectual achievement
Politics/Art entwined
Creativity
Surviving Revolution,
Turmoil, War and Fear
-but no sink plugs anywhere!
*
Join one queue for food
Then another one to pay
One more to collect
*
An overnight train
From Leningrad to Moscow
Now that should be fun!
A landscape passing
Seen through open train window
I’ll only see once
A shared compartment
With two snoring baritones
– They both slept soundly
*
Palatial platforms
With crystal chandeliers
A décor unique
Underground surprise
Sheer charm, splendour and beauty
Of Moscow Metro
*
Giselle
Big disappointment
Restricted view. Heard not seen
At Bolshoi Ballet
*
Turning back the clock
Time frozen in the twenties
Or earlier still
And this is Moscow!
A shopping experience
At GUM by Red Square
*
Not exactly Red
Nor is it exactly Square
But Red Square it is
A very long line
Of quiet shuffling people
Queueing for Lenin
*
A symbol of hope
Bravery and achievement
– Cosmos monument
*
Romeo & Juliet
Musical mastery
Expressive choreography
Sheer brilliance
*
Moscow’s beating heart
Walled city in walled city
This is the Kremlin
*
Hammer and sickle
A statue of unity
Worker and farmer
A true life doctrine?
All for one, and one for all?
Or propaganda?
Advertisements
Roman Holiday
27.12.02 – 3.1.03
Like Hepburn and Peck
It’s our ‘Roman Holiday’
Second honeymoon trek!
*
Speaking with gestures
And an operatic tongue
– Italiano!
*
Time to do nothing
It’s ‘dolce far niente’
– Delicious idleness!
*
Rome Kerb Drill
Firstly, find a Nun
Wait close by her right hand side
Don’t cross till she’s begun!
*
Fast cars, horns blaring
Look left, right and left again
Then walk, not caring!
*
Eternal city
Filled with ghosts of Old Masters
Living history
Raphael, Bernini
MichelAngelo, Caravaggio
– Waiting in shadows
*
Colosseum
Theatre of Blood
Sinister killing machine
A dark Colossus
Jawdropping structure
Architectural marvel
Wonder of the world!
*
In crumpled blankets
Wretched shop doorway creatures
Sleeping motionless
*
A dreadful demise
Pitiful rag bag on crutches
Soulful, begging cries
*
Normal holiday refrain
Stair rods bouncing off our brain
We’re three drowned rats again
*
Brellymen calling
Street seller entrepreneurs
Touting for business
Brellies? Dark glasses?
Stocked for fine and wet weather
And hedging their bets
*
Bocca della Verita
Honesty and Truth
Open mouth or Drain cover?
One reply required
*
A sidestreet café
Strong Espresso or Latté
Revival assured
*
Trevi Fountain
Eyes bright, bulbs flashing
Excited screams, throatlashing
Smiles beam, 3 coins splashing!
*
Greeting the New Year on the Ponte Sisto
Dark canvas with pearls
Fleeting moments of beauty
Fireworks at midnight
*
With a shaking voice
Frail figure at a window
Speaking to the world 1.1.04
*
A Face at the Window
A figure in white
Trembling voice, a shaking head
A New Year message 1.1.04
*
Taste explosion!
Such a different texture!
Not ice cream – Gelati!
*
Visiting the Vatican Museums
Waiting with patience
Shuffling snake of umbrellas
Queueing in silence
*
The Sistine Chapel
Head back. Eyes wide. Mouth open.
No words needed!
*
Living museum
An unrivalled collection
Where treasures abound
Paintings and Sculpture
Architectural glories
History on tap!
Danger! I’m drowning
A cultural overload
So much to swallow!
*
Penetrating eyes
A calm, confident posture
Pope Innocent X
*
Pantheon pigeons
Hungry low flying sky rats
Tormenting tourists
*
By 26 Piazza di Spagna – John Keats’ last home
Strangers at sunset
Sauntering spectators
Chill on Spanish Steps
*
Rome still casts its spell
A group of teenage students
Enter their hotel
Adored and admired
Another generation
Impressed and inspired
Catching Breath in Venice
8 – 10.1.06
Learning from a Master
A daunting prospect
Following giant footsteps
And reputation
Walking in a dream
And looking through Turner’s eyes
With captivation
*
Drowning in adjectives!
Incomparable
Majestic, ethereal
Unbelievable
Irreplaceable
Mystical, sensational
Unforgettable!
*
Looking back at Canaletto
They’re inaccurate
But entirely convincing.
Paintings come alive!
Walking in oil paint!
Canaletto’s vedute!
Can’t believe my eyes!
*
Spellbound, overwhelmed
Eyes filled and spilling over
A life’s wish come true
*
Travel Notebook
Scribbled distortions
Inaccurate proportions
Mental absorptions
*
Time frozen
In a Blue Lagoon
– It’s Venice!
*
Ink black pond skaters
Floating matchstick silhouettes
Crossing a mirror
*
Déjà vu? Perhaps
A second coming? Maybe
I’ve been here before
With Canaletto
In magnificent Turners
Many others too
It’s not a stranger
No introduction needed
A friend already
*
My notebook practice
‘Edit the inessential’
Not easy at all
Not drawing
Just ‘scaraboti’
Dash. Dot. Scrawl
*
Bridge of Sighs
How to bridge the gap
Between site and studio.
Turner did. Can I?
Epping Forest
Corporation of London Christmas Card Commission 2001 & 02
Centuries of leaves
In a cathedral of trees
Carpeted with breeze
*
Alone in a crowd
Light dim. A face peers out
From a crumpled skin
*
Ticker tape welcome
Confetti fluttering like
Pennies from Heaven
*
Rockin’ and Rollin’
Arms raised, Hallelujah’in
Tall, time-worn trees talkin’
*
Time-worn veteran
A portrait of life etched deep
In wooden wrinkles
*
Family clusters
Small processions of figures
Regal, triumphant
*
A shower of sunlight
Tall canopy filtering
Sun streaked whisp’ring winds
*
Faces emerging
A woodland Nativity
In pollarded trees
*
Leaf fall glittering
Autumn sunlight flickering
Black crows bickering
*
Cascading deadfall
A jackpot of leaf pennies
A blanket of gold
