A Place I Loved

By Ilse Kramer

When I was young my wants were few
I slept and studied in a modest room
With slanted walls
I loved that place

I had a little table
And a charming chair
A narrow bed and oval mirror
Just big enough to show an oval face

The room’s best feature was the view
A rare commodity
Across the street there was a crouching chapel
Built in the time of Charles the Great

I had a friend who once brought me a bunch
Of fresh Madonna lilies
We gazed at them and said
This is the purest white there is

He kissed my lips
While sitting on the bed
And then apologized
Our wants were few

At times I thought
I heard the echo of the giggles
Of long-dead servants
Who once had occupied the room

I loved that room

It was the right place
In the universe
For me to be

Ilse Kramer

Ilse Kramer is the Poet Laureate at Central Church
In the late 1960s she tried to pass for a Pembroke student