Camden Town

This weekend I went to Camden with my two friends Ruth and Rachel. It was about a decade since I had last been to Camden. There was a lot which reassuringly was still the same but also quite a lot that has changed. Gentrification is creeping into Camden, which is a real shame. As the woman in the piercing place said to me "You don't come to Camden to buy artisan bread, there's plenty of places to buy artisan bread now in London but there's only one Camden."

After our visit I have written a series of haiku about Camden. I liked the fact that haiku are like little snap shots of a time or place. Camden being even busier than I remember, I thought the haiku could capture those fleeting glimpses you get of the quirky and classic Camden as you mill about through the vast crowds.

Camden Haiku Octet 

Shadows amongst the 

London grime, goths slink seeking

Fancy frills and thrills

Grizzled punk's hair spikes

Skyward in parrot feathered

Breath taking colours

Nirvana is a

White slash across the back of

A middle aged Dad

Indian silk bed-

Spread, patchouli scented, burnt 

Orange elephants

Food from a thousand

Cultures entice the weary 

Tourists to devour

Your future laid out

In intricate cards: your life 

A patchwork of myths

The canal's flank churned

To mud for money feeding

Gentrification 

How long a haven

For hippy, indie kids and

Joyful subversion?