after he gave me the key
and had shaken my hand
he had run through the way
the electricity worked, the few
kitchen fittings. apparently he’d had
another offer from a young
polish couple. this was really,
he told me, a room for a man on his own.
I closed the door, locked it
and pushed the bed into the corner.
the place it had been
was distinct on the carpet
as a barrier and an open
manhole hatch. the table was plywood
and wood-effect plastic
and smelled strongly of antiseptic dusters.
the kitchenette was more
or less clean with some frost
in the fridge. I took time
to gather filters, flaking
like pills of asbestos,
from the previous tenant’s cigarettes
which the landlord had missed.
they had crawled between the carpet
and the tile of the bathroom.
into the divots where the castors
of the bed took his weight.
(Image provided by Dale Williams Barrigar)
Saragun Springs 
I liked this it was so visible, I could smell the stale smoke, the slight air of damp and the underlying air of grime. dd
LikeLiked by 1 person
DS
I have rented my fair share of little dives that the landlord didn’t ask for a reference and were loaded with the ghosts of other people’s cooking and perfume. This states such and more, immigrants usually get to know the local poor. Well done.
Leila
LikeLike
DS
The title alone creates a great effect in this poem as the reader wonders what kind of studio it is, why the character is in London (do they always live there or have they traveled there, etc), and what was going on there more than a decade ago.
The ghost of the former tenant hovers ’round the margins of the piece in a profoundly everyday sort of way. And for me, the even more intriguing ghost in this piece is the narrator, the “I” of this poem who describes outward surroundings in a restrained way which says much about interiors of a different sort, that is, the interior of the human mind, heart and soul. A haunting poem of human loneliness in more ways than one. We’d love to see more of your work whenever it’s ready.
Dale
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve lived in a place like this. Great descriptions. The lonesomeness is thick and real. The last few lines were a perfect ending.
LikeLiked by 1 person