Palace Sunrise
¶ 1
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We’ll play it safe and get there for sunrise.
Driving to Croydon, any day,
is like being at Exeter Services on a Saturday
in August, single file by West Cornwall Pasty.
¶ 2
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So when should we leave? When will we depart?
Let’s play it safe, say 3 a.m. Get there for sunrise.
¶ 3
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Is there anything to do at Thornton Heath
other than mull over shared memories
over insipid pints, surprisingly priced?
¶ 4
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What time should we leave for Palace?
Will we be rattling the locked door
of Camberwell Library, delving in –
not far – through glass to local history?
¶ 5
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And what time can I get to Crystal Palace Park?
4 a.m. is too early for parkrun
but is still well planned for kick off.
¶ 6
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There’s a faint lifting in the sky now
from black to eggplant, eggplant
to iron fog, iron fog to a dull reflective coin
minted in nineteen eighty three
¶ 7
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obscuring a view of Happy Valley
and skyscrapers from south London heights.
What time shall we leave for Palace?
We arrived for this inferred sunrise.
Very accurate indeed!
Palace home for me is always a tough journey as well. From the wilds of west London to Selhurst is a random journey into the unknown.