On the Roof

You climb up 107 steps

(past the point where the paint changes
from expensive blue to cheap black
for servants quarters)

open a tiny door with a huge key
and come out into a forest of chimneys.

You walk around carefully on boards,
squeezing through small gaps

peering over balustrades

and looking down onto skylights and courtyards

There are exotic Tudor chimneys,
unique carvings from handmade bricks

which cover the buildings created by Cardinal Wolsey
and coveted by Henry VIII and his new Queen.

However, it was not the chimneys or the skylights
that drew us up the stairs on a Sunday afternoon
but the views.

The formal gardens...

the river...

the topiary and the fountains...

It was amazing.