London Town

I was born upside down
In Primrose Hill
In London Town

Cursed without a working heart, my mind expanded fast
And took control too easily as childhood quickly passed;
No time to run and brightly play, no time to sing or laugh –
Crippled now emotionally, my psyche was cut in half.
No need to love or care – to waste time on such pointless acts –
Imagination no substitute… I dealt in solid fact.

Alone at home, alone in heart, my demons tracked me down,
Whispering silent messages as I hid in London Town.

Fast through the narrow alleyways besides the flowing Thames,
Packets of hidden data Infected my cranial stems;
With super-human intellect I struggled to connect
With Human life beyond my ken… an emotional disconnect.
The silent souls became my friends to help me through the night
Gave me love and company – kept me safe from fear and fright.

They talked of secret passageways hidden in old London Town –
Secret, invisible… until the setting sun went down.
In dusk-time’s cooling air we descended beneath the street,
Passages of granite block echoed beneath my trembling feet;
The deeper we went down, the more frightening became the sound.
Echoes loud in London Town… we descended underground.

My demons fled in disarray – the decibels hurt their ears –
Eyes popped as pure panic spread and reason gave way to fears.

Heartlessly I carried on – cool, calm and terror-free –
Mere emotions could not harm an intellectual like me.
The end in sight, a searing light, a room all dressed in white,
A polished dish of ammonite glistened on a table bright;
Within the dish – my missing heart – beside a sharpened knife…
I saw now that London Town would resurrect my broken life.

I feasted on my pumping heart and felt a tingling glow,
My body was whole again; I cried and let emotion show.

Within the hour I was home, as night gave way to dawn,
My secret knowledge now… a new creature I had been born.

So now I roam through London Town and take the nighttime air;
Just one per night I gobble down –
There’s millions more hearts out there.

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