14 December 2012
The Belfast Heart
It was a cool sunny October morning in Belfast. A walk along from York Street to Nero's Cafe in the centre proved energising. Great coffee and a sweet Raspberry and White muffin made an indulgent and happy after-breakfast treat. I was browsing the news in the Times. Then browsing the tapestry of passers-by; busy and bustling suits or strolling early shoppers, a hassled pram pusher and a courting couple hunched over their coffees at the table outside. Sunshine spilling through chilled air on a street where it's still Autumnal enough to cuddle in the open air: two Belfast hearts in the heart of Belfast. These lovers hearts a better rhythm and more true to the city than the drums of war. Just up the street I found a space in a Library called Linen Hall, and there over looking the City a young man sits reading an old book, turning withered pages gingerly, plunging into a history still writing itself in the streets outside. The young man lifts the corner and the yellow paper turns as beside him, an elderly man turns the page of today's newspaper. A rustle of yesterday and today in almost perfect synchronisation. It's quiet in the Linen Hall. In the noise of the street outside the couple rise from their coffee table and kiss. Full, free, unabashed. A kiss that in a time gone by would have been reserved for a hidden place now lifts the temperature in the heart of Belfast. The street, for a moment oddly still-framed in their background, resumes it's history as the couple part, at the heart of Belfast.
Belfast Heart • Opuss № I