1.
AN URBAN MYTH
The ‘Ghost Bus of Notting Hill Gate’
Is a phantom Number Seven
Fully lit the Night Bus –
Driverless Conductor-less
No apparent passengers aboard
Some claim to have seen it in full sail
On Ladbroke Grove on Westbourne Grove
It did not stop for them
One night when you are heading home
Euphoric and a little stoned
Justifying to yourself
Some small illicit ‘fling’
Perhaps it will stop for you
2.
THE DOUBLE
“A blonde and beardless merchant in Harar?
I doubt it is your man…
This Rimbaud is a perfect gent
He does not drink arak nor take majoun
No kif pouch does the round when he meets here
Those hired hands assisting in his trade –
They say he can’t be French because
He never visits brothels
And pays their wage on time –
The sum agreed and sometimes with a bonus –
If they are sick or injured in his work
He sends to pay the doctor for a nurse –
I think he’s what is called ‘a natural Moslem’
All in all
He won’t last long out here”
Bernard Saint
Illustration: Claire Palmer
.