• Vol. 09
  • Chapter 03
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From Birmingham To The Bath

"Bath - a weekend break"
You had said
"Travel light, just do be there"
So I did

Acquire a used Lonely Planet
Read it back to front
Corner bending those pages
With sites to be sighted:

Bath Abbey
Pulteney Bridge
Royal Crescent
Roman remains
Grand Pump Room
Sydney Gardens
A plethora of musea

And faux-posh restaurants
Street eateries
Vegan diners
Gastro pubs
Bars
Inns of repute
Inns without.

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From Birmingham To The Bath

"Must bring a cossie"
(Your present from Pampelonne I think)
Packed along with casuals and formals
With goggles and nose-clip.

Caught the early out of New Street
No, I don’t remember Adlestrop
Unwontedly via Oxford
Eventually ending up at Bath Spa.

Perhaps the Thermae Bath
Is the domain where we will meet
For a pamper day experience
In mineral-rich waters

But it was to be your basement flat
High up in Twerton
Passed the Polar Bear then right
To your squat on the street

Where I bathe alone prone
With mermaids au natural
One yellow plastic duck
The odd grey seal
A snorkeler with precision
Against a fresco mural of Dover Cliffs
And you with a loofah
That scratched to the quick.

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From Birmingham To The Bath

So I did
Travel light, just to be there
"Bath - a weekend bleak"
I realise you said.

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