the laundrette
that old iranian sam owns
the naval officer- come- material cleaner
two bouts of cancer later
he's still standing,
still working the machines
the tumble dryers
sam an outlier
he dreams
of taking care
of his sick mother, his mother
a lover
of London city
dreamer of a home
he can never go back to
but his kids are scattered now
across the world
they possess all sorts of degrees
elevation
they don't come to the shop
any more
***
the soup kitchen
moses visits them all
far and wide
across the city,
to eat a meal, with others
companionship, it's what he seeks
up right moses
with lots of stray papers in his bag
a steely gaze,
a knowing
a hearty laugh
that reverberates across
them all,
all those soulful places
filled with people
in some kind of need
material and emotional
this being human.
***
the church
that self appointed
old pastor jack visits
he takes my hand
he tells me the angels came to him
in his youth
his father died at war
but never did they go hungry
work
his mother worked in a factory
Jerusalem is alive in his mind
he hands me a bag of lavender
and talks about mash and eel pie,
to listen is to be alive
it's to arrive
at a junction.
***
the real secret gems
