I wrote this a long time ago before I had children. I was in a play written by one of my teachers and we spent a late evening after rehearsal at an older actor's apartment. It was in the early eighties and, as was the fashion then, there was some cocaine at the party. Someone very close to me was addicted to cocaine at the time and after the party I wrote this for him.

From Kilimanjaro to Popocatepetl
Lies a thin passage in the air
A space inside a tube
Within a wire straight and long
The messages which flow there
Are without fear and strong
But they glitter through the night
And leave you ragged far from rest
While higher in the Himalayas
In some cave or quiet retreat
A yellow hat is sleeping
And when he wakes he thinks
Did I dream I was a butterfly
Or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man

The Ribbleshead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales is an example of Victorian engineering at its very best.

At 1,320 feet long and 104 feet high, this spectacular viaduct spans the Ribble Valley and can be seen from miles around.

(PANORAMIC LENSE)

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All six can be enlarged a little by clicking on them. They are all real.

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A portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, the daughter in law of Giovanni Tornabuoni. She was a member of the Albizzi family, who were rivals of the Medici and Alberti families, and were at the centre of Florentine oligarchy starting from 1382 in the reaction that followed the Ciompi revolt. However, after Cosimo de' Medici returned from exile in 1434 (arranged by Rinaldo degli Albizzi) and regained power, he in turn exiled all but one of the Albizzis from Florentine. This painting was done around 1490, long after the Albizzis' fall from grace.
Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio




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