Michael Barham Antiques at the Top of the Portobello Road
The shops are multi-coloured on their fronts,
The pink ones and the gold ones and the grey
(Lead blue). Yet then a true blue one confronts
Your vision. [Other shoppers wander. They
Don’t have a clue. They’re just meandering
And nearly blind as if they have no taste.
Yes, a lot of shops are just pandering
To tastelessness. A lot are just a waste
Of space.] But this one has the most select
Of beauty on display. Here burnished brass
Shines. Shelves with finest china are bedecked
With elegance . . . and lead crystal . . . and class.
Don’t wander past the shop with that blue face.
Stop. Turn and enter. Find that piece of grace.