"oxford" poems - Hello Poetry

Many people write a "bucket list" of things they want to do before they die. Now in my 80th year, I don't have the time or the energy to do things that others might aim for, but I have during my life visited many places, seen many things, and enjoyed many experiences that I would have been sorry to miss. There have also been some events that I would have preferred not to experience, but which have enriched my life in different ways, and which I remember with a kind of sad affection. Some of these are very personal to me, and would not be interesting to most people, but read the note if you wonder why I chose them. Here then is what I might call My Reverse Bucket List Towns and cities – architecture & atmosphere Barcelona, Spain Venice, Italy Oxford, England Jerusalem, Israel Luxor, Egypt Varanasi, India Hiroshima, Japan Pompeii, Italy Other locations Galápagos islands, Ecuador Great Barrier Reef, Australia North Woolwich, London Churches St Paul's Cathedral, London Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Coventry Cathedral Córdoba Cathedral, Spain Blue Mosque, Istanbul Other structures Taj Mahal, Agra Auschwitz concentration camp, Poland Royal Festival Hall, London London underground system (because it was the first, and I rode it for a long time). Also the more splendid underground railways of Mexico City and Moscow. Avebury Ring, Wiltshire, England (the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world, and much more primitive than Stonehenge) Bayeux Tapestry "Angel of the North" statue, Gateshead, England "Christ the Redeemer" statue, Rio, Brazil Events Messiah at Royal Festival Hall, Feb 1959, with the girl later to be my wife St John's night, Spain, early 1990s (?) Death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, Aug 1997 Oberammergau passion play, 2010 Destruction of World Trade Centre, Sept 2001

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Sep 17, 2018

Sep 17, 2018 at 9:16 AM UTC

paul-hansford

Bucket List? -- Not Me!

Many people write a "bucket list" of things they want to do before they die. Now in my 80th year, I don't have the time or the energy to do things that others might aim for, but I have during my life visited many places, seen many things, and enjoyed many experiences that I would have been sorry to miss. There have also been some events that I would have preferred not to experience, but which have enriched my life in different ways, and which I remember with a kind of sad affection. Some of these are very personal to me, and would not be interesting to most people, but read the note if you wonder why I chose them. Here then is what I might call My Reverse Bucket List Towns and cities – architecture & atmosphere Barcelona, Spain Venice, Italy Oxford, England Jerusalem, Israel Luxor, Egypt Varanasi, India Hiroshima, Japan Pompeii, Italy Other locations Galápagos islands, Ecuador Great Barrier Reef, Australia North Woolwich, London Churches St Paul's Cathedral, London Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Coventry Cathedral Córdoba Cathedral, Spain Blue Mosque, Istanbul Other structures Taj Mahal, Agra Auschwitz concentration camp, Poland Royal Festival Hall, London London underground system (because it was the first, and I rode it for a long time). Also the more splendid underground railways of Mexico City and Moscow. Avebury Ring, Wiltshire, England (the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world, and much more primitive than Stonehenge) Bayeux Tapestry "Angel of the North" statue, Gateshead, England "Christ the Redeemer" statue, Rio, Brazil Events Messiah at Royal Festival Hall, Feb 1959, with the girl later to be my wife St John's night, Spain, early 1990s (?) Death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, Aug 1997 Oberammergau passion play, 2010 Destruction of World Trade Centre, Sept 2001