Early Morning Swim<\/p>\n
I\u2019m too early to swim so I kill time wandering
\nthrough Brixton, the moon still out
\nover Atlantic Road, Electric Avenue.
\nIt\u2019s quiet, perhaps it\u2019s dangerous for a girl
\nto be walking at 6.30am but I know these streets
\nand in the strange December warmth, I raise
\nmy hand to the halal men in their bloody robes,
\nalready busy with their knives and bones
\nand bright chunks of meat. I should be in the water
\nbut instead, I pass the shuttered shops and slats
\nusually stacked high with yam and bananas,
\nthe red awnings of the Wing Tai Market
\nwhere you can buy five types of black bean
\nand watch a beautiful boy sluice fish guts
\ninto plastic buckets. There\u2019s a woman
\nstacking bread in the window of Greggs,
\none in headphones sweeping the arcade,
\nanother darts across my path on twitchy legs,
\nmidriff exposed. She turns for a second
\nand meets my eye. I pass by The Havana Social
\nwhere a decade ago I danced all night
\nunder wooden beams and drank bright pink
\nstrawberry Daiquiris and shots of Sambuca.
\nNow ply-board seals the door and windows,
\nthe name peeled to flecks of white. Daylight rises
\non Electric Lane. By noon, the bearded man
\nin black tunic and knitted cap
\nwill be frying lamb and onions in his van,
\nthe Tunisians crowed at the pavement tables,
\ndrinking coffee, rolling cigarettes. I should be
\nswimming but instead I\u2019m watching
\nthe huge Dragon Stout truck reverse down an alley,
\nits tarpaulin daubed in orange flames.
\nIt leaves me where I\u2019m standing at 7.03am
\nby the red brick of Brixton Rec. They\u2019ve got
\na thousand tons of water waiting in there,
\nup the stairs, through the rotating doors,
\nbelow the new neon sign.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hannah Lowe<\/a> came 3rd in the main category<\/a> of the NCLA’s Water Poetry Competition 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n The NCLA Water Poetry Competition was judged by W.N. Herbert <\/a>and John Burnside<\/a>. The ceremony was held at Northern Stage<\/a> on 23rd February 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n Photographs of the event can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n