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Peterloo Poets, Poetry Publishers, Calstock, Cornwall

The Red Zone
Julian Stannard

Julian Stannard teaches at the University of Winchester, and occasionally reviews for the Guardian. This second volume of poetry follows on from the first, Rina's War, in the mysterious city of Zena, but expands geographically as the author finds himself in Corsica, the Vatican, Calabria, and Chesterfield.

Blue Towel

I hang a blue towel on the line beneath the window
then I walk around the flat in a melancholic daze.
When I go for the towel a little later
I see that it’s fallen and snagged on the line below.

Next day I’m staring out of the window
watching a girl taking her pants from the clothes line.
I don’t suppose you’ve come across a blue towel?
Sure, she says, pop down sometime carissimo.
Early evening and I’m pushing at her bell:
she opens the door and there’s a blue towel wrapped around her head.

I’m asked if I would like a little grappa
and soon there’s a clink of glasses behind the curtain
and I’m looking at the room which consists almost entirely of a bed
which is not unreasonable given her line of work
and a sprinkling of books
including a copy of Chameleon Tunes.

She brings a tray with three glasses, one of which is full of ice.
Do you like Billie Holiday? I must have nodded
because we sat there listening to some strange fruit hanging from the trees
sipping chilled grappa
her head wrapped so beautifully in my blue towel.