They swayed on the prom
like reeds in the wind
nipping on stolen brandy
She’d booked room no.6 at the Clarendon
He felt like a prince.

He said that he saw a fritillary fly
“You cock”, she said,
“I’m just a cabbage white”
When he mumbled he loved her
she hissed “That’s not right
You dozy ha’p’orth of grapes”

“We must love like mayflies now
In this bitter spring”

Like mayflies?”,he wondered,
“If only they could sing”

He said:
“I Saw her one time
down on Snakey lane in 1953
Out with her man and a girl
And the girl looked a little
Like me… maybe?”

“For all I that I cared she thought I was dead
And I heard that she worked up the airport
But they pulled that all down “
She stayed on the ground
When B.O.A.C moved to Gatwick

“We must love like mayflies now
In this bitter spring”

“Like mayflies?” he said
“If only they could sing”

Now she stamps on the tarmac at Riverview
Cries for his plane to come down
But planes never land here
and if they did land
they’d flatten this rotting town.

Maybe she noticed a skylark rise
Like he saw fritillaries fly
Back In room no.6 at The Clarendon
One of them lied.

What a dozy ha’p’orth of grapes!

We must love like mayflies now
In this bitter spring
Like mayflies?
If only they would sing

Gravesend once had an airport.It was to be called London East, built on the pre-war and WW2 aerodrome.
All that is left of it is a small patch of taxiway near Nell’s Cafe. The Riverview estate swallowed up the rest.
This tale starts during the Battle Of Britain and finishes in 2002. If you know how long mayfly imagos live then you’ll understand the premise…the fleeting urgency of love in wartime.