Sun, St. James Park

Once a place for royal hunting,

close by the palaces of Westminster,

surrounded by royal vestiges

of horse guards, and statues,

ministries and The Mall leading

to the most royal residence,

now a royal park, for commuters

hunting the shortest way to office

or tube, appointment or bus,

and fathers tossing Frisbees

whiles mothers push prams

and joggers run in packs

as cyclists circle the perimeter

seeking a way past no cycling

signs, occasionally overlooked

by the errant seeking the hypotenuse

to avoid the rush of traffic

of cars and tourists rushing

to see Her Majesty’s Guard

change at 11 a.m. sharp.

Photograph: St. James’s Park, London, Sept. 27, 2015.

St. James Park Tube Station

A small station,

St. James Park is,

threatening inconsequence,

caught as it is in the space

between the riot of people

that is its nearby sister Victoria

and the riot of government

and tourists that is

its nearby brother Westminster.

But it has a reach, it does,

bordering on the formidable:

Buckingham Palace

the Horse Guards

Scotland Yard

Westminster Abbey

Victoria Street

Birdcage Walk and the park

the Ministry of Justice (all

those CCTV cameras) and sharing

a building with the tube’s HQ.

It even merits a ticket office,

attended by personnel, where

we wait in queue, quietly,

for our Oyster cards, topping off

with more pounds. 

We stand on the platform

waiting for the train

from Victoria (eastbound) or

from Westminster (westbound)

making sure as we board

to mind the gap. 

The St. James Park tube station in London has three entrances – one on Broadway, one on Petty France, and one on Palmer Street. We used all three, although the Palmer Street entrance was the closet to our hotel. 

Photograph: Exterior of the St. James Park tube station, Petty France entrance.