A Virgin Birth - Bodleian Libraries, Oxford (27/10/16)

Above a church in Oxford,

You can still hear history whisper

Of the fifteenth-century night

When an academic empire was born.

An Academic's Shadow - Codrington Library, Oxford (9/10/16)

As daylight fades,

An academic’s shadow

Passes over the geometric floor,

Perusing shelves as they darken

From olive green to black.

Elite fingers brush

The spines soundless

As a lover’s touch,

Hesitant to disturb their seamless rank,

Aware of the deadline

Drawing near.

In golden halo,

An academic’s shadow

Pores over pages of law,

Ensconced in a fantasy vision

From works of literature.

The regal eyes of a statue

Might move to follow

The fastidious pen,

A shape stand silhouetted

Against the window pane.

Into the lowering night,

An academic’s shadow

Departs with a yawn,

Receding from the Gothic walls

Of a deathless establishment.