London's Summer Morning (2025)
Richard
Drag the words to the correct places to complete the poem. To reset the game, click on the "Reset Game" button located below the poem. This will clear all the words you've placed in the blanks, returning them to the word bank and resetting the poem to its original state with empty blanks.
After Mary Robinson
Who has not stirred to hear ______ restless hum
Of London waking, bathed in amber light?
______ screech of buses, chatter in the streets,
The whoosh ______ cyclists weaving past in streams,
While neon vests of ______ blaze like fire
On scaffolded horizons. At the door,
______ courier drops a parcel, scanning codes,
A takeaway bag ______ at his side.
Now coffee machines whirr in glass-fronted shops,
And oat-flat-white seekers queue in droves.
On every corner, ______ stalls gleam with hues—
Mango, dragon fruit, and avocados ripe—
While buskers pluck at strings or drum on tins,
______ rhythms swallowed by the sirens' wail.
Along the pavement, ______ pace their miles,
Earbuds humming podcasts, heads downturned.
The ______ exhales its gusts of heat,
As screens announce delays ______ sterile tones.
Through sliding doors, the weary office swarm
______ out, lattes in hand, as newsfeeds scroll
Across impatient thumbs.
Now sunlit glass ignites the towering spires
Of corporate kingdoms; power-suited ghosts
Glide past graffiti scrawled on shuttered shops.
______ vans perfume the air with scents of spice,
As ______ banter over steaming woks.
At dusk, the rooftop gardens ______ with life,
Cocktails raised to city skylines, while below,
______ pavement poets dream of better days—
And London, ever-changing, ______ along.