Live and learn

And so to Portobello Road
           for a new pair
of navy boots
           for the New Year
for the new life ahead
           the agony
while I break them in
           the ecstasy
once they’re broken
           Pop into García’s
for chorizo
           and black pudding
and notice that they also sell
           cured pork fatback
like Italian lardo
           and when I get it home
it tastes much the same
           a delicious silky sensation
on the tongue
           And so it goes on
and you live and learn
           some of the time

John Lyons