Habanera

PoetrySS- Peter and Paul 2009
Written By Andrew Thornton-Norris

For fifty years this flat has been my home,
Atop this nineteen-thirties tower block,
The sea a few dilapidated streets
Away, the city wall once nearby too.

From sea and sky I've seen this city fall,
And I have seen decay like fire consume
These streets where children play and lovers walk,
Whom too I've seen decay like fire consume.

My parents brought me here when I was small,
To this key city of the New World;
A world we all seem to inhabit now,
As cities rise, like lives and fires, and fall.

Andrew Thornton-Norris

In his new book, The Spiritual History of English, Andrew Thornton-Norris argues that today’s social and cultural decay comes from the death of Protestantism in the 1960’s. He believes that only the Catholic Church is able to provide once protestant countries such as Britain and America with the underlying sense of values that they have lost. Andrew Thornton-Norris is the author of The Ghost of Identity, a novel, and a graduate of the Universities of Oxford and London.

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