Advice to the Traveler
Do not take the motorway
that carves England into
bathroom stops
and wrapped sandwiches
Have no planned destination,
a rainless week to lose yourselves,
make a right at the three horses, continue
following the stream, a picket fence
sheep grazing, cows eyeing you curious
Continue down a winding road, oaks, hawthorn,
wild roses to five cottages, a church,
an ice cream shop, a post office and a pub
Slow down for a pint, don’t let those coins
with Queen’s head confuse you, order
today’s special or fish and chips,
while you’re waiting, have a game of darts
At the next crossroads, spin a coin,
don’t book ahead, all roads lead to a B&B
on a hill with homemade jam, Victorian
plumbing and downy bedspreads
Remember when two sixpences made a shilling?
here they still do, sign the guest book, add a few
words in your own language; the motorway awaits
Back to London, congestion, Oxford Road,
Trafalgar Square. Queue for tickets to a show,
fall asleep on the grass, among the pigeons, thinking