Oxford Odyssey

by Paul Balfe

It’s Oxford
Between Christmas and New Year.
I’m twenty and in love with
An English rose.
Never a thrall of fashion,
My army surplus coat
Is drenched through in the
Relentless rain which somehow
Bestows magic on the
Already enchanted city —
The festive lights reflected in the
Gleaming streets.

C.S. Lewis’ old haunt welcomes
The soaked duo,
A pint or two quaffed in his honour.
My coat, slung over a high stool
Emits a plume of steam
Much to the landlord’s amusement.
And it dawned on me what
Louis MacNeice meant
When he described Christmas as
‘A coral island in time’
And how true it was for a twenty year old
On a rainy Christmas in Oxford, long ago.