I had been allocated a study bedroom
Advised that I could use the refectory
And the library, for my study week
Alone at Warwick University
I don’t recollect if I had a choice of where to go
Or of what I, or they, hoped I would achieve
In this time, mostly of solitude
These moments of being the outlier
I cannot remember the halls of residence
Or if there was a Thursday night party
Which there usually is
At Open University Summer Schools
This was my Technology Project year
Almost the conclusion to my BA Honours
Yet it might have been the final straw
To break me away from engineering How often I have found my shelter
In those study-like bedrooms
With bed, desk, window
And next to nothing else
How often have I entered
Through utilitarian doors
To settle myself, to ground myself
In the strangely familiar surroundings
A corridor waits outside
To a kitchen, or a common room
Maybe to a set of stairs
Or directly to the out of doors
I have written there
In longhand, and on computer
I have made, and also received
Telephone calls from lovers
