Bus Stop Princess

Dear Reader,

Over this lockdown period I understand that everyone has been eating more than they usually do. Well I don't suppose they could have eaten as much as King Edward VII did in his life.  He ate and drank copiously of the rich food which was served at grand Edwardian dinner tables.  At a typical dinner given for his male friends. even though he was in failing health, included: turtle soup, salmon, grilled chicken, saddle of mutton, snipe stuffed with foie gras, asparagus, fruit, a large iced concoction and a savoury.  And by his bedside when he was staying away, the hostesses knew that they had to provide a cold chicken in case he felt hungry in the night. Queen Victoria, his mother,  also had a large appetite and sometimes had 18 courses for dinner.  No wonder Queen Victoria, in her photographs, looks so glum

What I can't imagine is how they could eat so much and not get indigestion or something worse.  God knows what they felt like the following morning after so much food and drink. 

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The poem today "Bus Stop Princess" is one of my favourites.  It is a true story.  I saw her.

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Bus Stop Princess

She waited, unnoticed, invisible.

Her fluffy green jersey egg-stained,

uninteresting trousers and sensible shoes

inviting no attention.

She was a brown paper parcel,

loosely string-tied.

But she smiled at me

with such sweetness,

such a smile of goodness,

I saw her sensible shoes,

become sparkling slippers,

her shabby clothes

turn into a ball dress

fashioned from sunlight,

stitched up with love.

Not then a story-book princess,

but a real princess

glimpsed at a bus stop.

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With very best wishes, Patricia