Wednesday 11th July

DOWN IN WESTHAM:

Down in Westham hunting.
Bright uniformed cheery faces the early morning company of strangers
ease our wait in obedient queues. Another temporary East End location
to get your paperwork & plastic, emerging into rain for weeds that adorn
black top snakes winding through the arid lands that lie between A roads
& rails.
I surprised myself stumbling into the Rial Cafe. Like a Tokyo pop-up
coffee shop, lined with books & art – an Oasis staring back in the face of
Westham station. Hi-viz builders insert delicate pinches of tarmac into
stumble-cracks in pavements, perhaps that sport tourists might not tumble
or be offended by unsightly things. Suited girls wait for lifts from boys on
corners smiling & the accents are all global village.
Underscoring this, a low wind like the breath of a stalker, until Marley
starts to sing,
‘Exodus’.

(K)