We never chose our beauty,
In a student house in Kings Cross,
Above a kebab shop, below a brothel,
My sweetest straw-haired Anna.
Who knew an embrace could reach so far?
Chance, train bells giggling in the night,
Miles of tree green, tunnel dark, open bright,
No muted hues, beautiful stabbing eye pain!
Who knew that there was no alternative,
Meeting you fourteen isles away?
Did we choose the pedestals of Millesgarden,
Lay ourselves in the fir needles of Norsta,
Have the reeds of Lake Malaren stroke us,
One thousand two hundred islands warm?
The light gnarled kind hand offering fruit,
His smile old and wise, a gift simply given?
Ferry through the archipelago,
Mists fade with the sun, clean fresh green?
A vision reflected in water,
Disturbed by a skipping stone.
After all these decades, my dearest Anna,
We are blessed that we chanced on a beauty
That we never chose x
We never chose our beauty,
In a student house in Kings Cross,
Above a kebab shop, below a brothel,
My sweetest straw-haired Anna.
Who knew an embrace could reach so far?
