Havana
Dear Reader,
In the 1950s when I was a debutante I went to lots of dinner parties where, after dinner, the men smoked cigars. It is such a particular smell, never to be forgotten, and when I some times smell it in the street, it takes me straight back to those days. Francis and I have been watching Downton Abbey again, and it all so reminds me of my youthful days. When we (I was married then and lived in the New Forest in a manor house) gave dinner parties, after the desert the women rose to their feet and traipsed out of the dining room and went upstairs to "powder our noses". The men then smoked cigars and talked about money or told dirty stories until they got drunk on brandy, or some liqueur, then they drove home in that condition. On several occasions guests would end up in ditches, and had, sometimes, bad accidents. And the smell of cigar smoke stayed in the dining room for days. I can smell it now, writing this.
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From Dorothy Wordsworth, October 30th, 1802, in Westmorland
'It is a breathless, grey day, that leaves the golden woods of autumn quiet in their own tranquility, stately and beautiful in their decaying:the lake is a perfect mirror'.
From S.T. Coleridge, October 31st, 1803 in Cumberland
The full moon glided on behind a black cloud. And what then? And who cared?
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Havana Cigars
A man walked past me
smoking a cigar,
puffing out smoke
with its unique aroma
of luxury and opulence.
What memories it brings.
Candlelit dinners eaten,
Cuban cigars passed round
in silver boxes
nestling in sandalwood.
Talk was of politics, shooting, fishing,
and dubious stories
generating laughter amongst the men.
Cigars at race course,
smoke and racehorse sweat mingling.
Cigars after lunch and coffee
the erotic smell of tobacco leaves
awakening desires.
Cigars enjoyed by old men
remembering younger days,
cigars in large country houses
with sunlit gardens embracing
the scent of gardenias and roses.
Evening dancing with
partners smelling of claret
and Havana cigars.
A time of grandeur
of abundance,
another time.
*
With best wishes, Patricia
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