Habanera
For fifty years this flat has been my home, Atop this nineteen-thirties tower block, The sea a few dilapidated streets Away, the city wall once nearby too. From sea and sky I've seen this city fall, And I have seen decay like fire consume These streets where children play and lovers walk, Whom too I've seen decay like fire consume. My parents brought me here when I was small, To this key city of the New World; A world we all seem to inhabit now, As cities rise, like lives and fires, and fall.
--Andrew Thornton-Norris
Andrew Thornton-Norris is the author of The Spiritual History of English and of The Ghost of Identity, a novel. A graduate of the University of Oxford, he resides in London.
